xxxHolic
xxxHolic (×××ホリック Horikku),[1] pronounced "holic",[2] but often pronounced phonetically "ex-ex-ex-holic" or "triple x holic", is a seinen manga series planned and presented by Clamp. The storyline of xxxHolic crosses over with that of a number of other CLAMP series, the most notable of which are Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle which was written in tandem with it, and Cardcaptor Sakura, whose history it draws on at several points.
xxxHolic has been serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine periodically since 2003 and published in volumes under the KC Deluxe label. It is currently published in the United States by Del Rey Manga and in the United Kingdom by Tanoshimi. The art style of the manga draws on the influence of ukiyo-e wood prints.[3][4]
Plot summary
Kimihiro Watanuki is a high school student plagued by yōkai, spirits with a strong attraction to him. The spirits are invisible to others and encounters with them are extremely troublesome. When he stumbles into a shop that grants wishes, however, events in his life promise to become more unusual.
The shop is owned by Yūko Ichihara, a mysterious and beautiful (sometimes playful) witch of many names and esoteric renown. For a price, she offers to grant Watanuki's wish to be rid of the spirits. The price, according to Yūko, must be of equal value and so, as payment, he temporarily becomes Yūko's part-time employee.
Watanuki's job consists of small errands dealing with the supernatural and household chores. His love interest, Himawari Kunogi, and "rival," Shizuka Dōmeki, occasionally join him in his work as per Yūko's request. The three become increasingly close despite Watanuki's annoyance with Dōmeki.
[edit] Characters
Kimihiro Watanuki (四月一日君尋 Watanuki Kimihiro) is a typical high-school student living on his own. He is down-to-earth and selfless, but also very irritable, especially when it comes to Yūko's lavish demands and Dōmeki's stoic attitude. Watanuki begins working for Yūko in exchange for the fulfillment of his wish to never see spirits again. Apart from Dōmeki and Himawari, Watanuki does not seem to have any friends at school; in fact, Yūko teases him about being unpopular.
Yūko Ichihara (壱原 侑子 Ichihara Yūko) is a very powerful witch, mostly known for her ability to send people to other dimensions and times, and for her ability to grant any wish in exchange for an equal cost. Despite her seemingly immature and free-spirited attitude, Yūko is also sage-like and serious when the time calls for it.
Shizuka Dōmeki (百目鬼 静 Dōmeki Shizuka) is Watanuki's classmate and one-sided rival. He is part of the school's archery club and often participates in school competitions. He lives in a shrine owned by his late grandfather. Dōmeki's personality sharply contrasts with Watanuki's, as he is calm and often sarcastic. Dōmeki has the ability to rid evil spirits and is immune to most curses, mostly due to his ancestry and his upbringing in his grandfather's temple.
Himawari Kunogi (九軒 ひまわり Kunogi Himawari) is Watanuki's main love interest. She is a kind and caring girl, but inadvertently brings bad luck to everyone she comes into contact with, with the exception of her parents and Dōmeki.
[edit] Media
[edit] Manga
xxxHolic has been serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine since 2003 and published in volumes under the KC Deluxe label. It is currently published in the United States by Del Rey Manga and in the United Kingdom by Tanoshimi.
[edit] Movie
A movie adaptation titled xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream (劇場版 xxxHOLiC 真夏ノ夜ノ夢 Gekijōban Horikku: Manatsu no Yoru no Yume) premiered on August 20, 2005 alongside Tsubasa Chronicle the Movie: The Princess of the Country of Birdcages (劇場版 ツバサ・クロニクル 鳥カゴの国の姫君 Gekijōban Tsubasa Kuronikuru Nendaiki Torikago no Kuni no Himegimi). The DVD version was released on November 24, 2006.
In the film, Yūko receives a request from a woman to help her back into her mansion, which does not allow her to enter. Yūko says that since Watanuki was the one who brought the client to her, he should be the one to grant her wish and therefore is brought along with her and Dōmeki. Yūko also attends because she has been invited to the mansion with many other famous collectors by the same letter, with the mansion filled with strange rooms and mysterious letters telling its guests what to do in place of a host. Though the collectors come to the theory of a mysterious auction being held, as in some urban legends, it becomes apparent that something more sinister and mysterious is going on as the collectors begin to disappear and a number of other strange occurrences happen.
The film was selected as a finalist for the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2006 in the Feature Films category with other four nominees: Asterix and the Vikings, Origin: Spirits of the Past, Wallace and Gromit, and the award winner, Renaissance.
[edit] TV series
The first season of TV anime adaptation of xxxHolic began airing on TBS on April 6, 2006 in Japan and ended on September 28, 2006, with 24 episodes in total. Both the movie and the anime series are directed by Tsutomu Mizushima. Ageha Ohkawa, Clamp's director and main scriptwriter, is executive producer of the TV series. Due to differing studios licensed for the anime, the plot is not as complete as the manga, mainly with the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Cardcaptor Sakura references being removed (though Sakura's staff from CCS and Fay's staff from Tsubasa are seen in episode 18 when Watanuki is in the storage room, and Fay's staff is also seen in Episode 8 being used as a rug beater).
The second season, xxxHolic: Kei (xxxHOLiC◆継 Horikku: Kei), began airing on TBS on April 3, 2008 in Japan and ended on June 26, 2008, with 13 episodes in total. Kei, in Japanese, means "sequel" here. The main staff and cast remains the same as in the first season.[5] In Chapter 154 of the manga release, there is a section offering readers preview of the second season. It shows episodes correspond to both the anime and its manga arc counterparts like the Spider Grudge arc, Kohane Tsuyuri and Haruka.
The first season of the xxxHolic anime was relatively loyal to the comic's timeline, whereas Kei has episodes which concentrated on the backgrounds of some of the smaller arcs in the xxxHolic manga. The most notable alternation in Kei is in the Kohane Tsuyuri arc, as she was introduced earlier in the anime and she was able to enter Yūko's shop without having a wish. Episode 10 of the anime changed and closed the Kohane arc in which Kohane was able to resolve her differences with her mother on her own while in the manga Kohane's role is still active to the ongoing series.
Connections with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle are also seen in Kei. In episode 7, a connection with Tsubasa's Tokyo Revelations OVA occurs with the water containers, which are the same as those used to fill the underground reservoir in the Tokyo Government Building. Also, in episode 12, the egg given to Watanuki by Yūko is the same egg retrieved by Sakura from the caves in the Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations OVA.
On January 26, 2009, the series made its North American debut on the FUNimation Channel. [6]
On Feb. 10, 2009 Kodansha's official website for the upcoming xxxHOLiC: Shunmuki and Tsubasa: Shunraiki original animation DVD (OAD) projects has posted a new xxxHOLiC trailer and a Tsubasa trailer. (In both links, select the white Japanese text on the center left.) Both trailers highlight the work of Nanase Ohkawa, the scriptwriter and the story creator of the CLAMP manga quartet, and the animation studio Production I.G.
The xxxHOLiC: Shunmuki trailer also notes that Tsutomu Mizushima (xxxHOLiC, xxxHOLiC: Kei, xxxHOLiC the Movie: A Midsummer Night's Dream) is directing. The OVA is said to be aired sometime in June.
[edit] OVA
A two-DVD OVA, entitled xxxHOLiC Shunmuki (xxxHOLiC 春夢記 xxxHOLiC Shunmuki) (xxxHOLiC Spring Dreams Chronicle) has been announced for xxxHOLiC. The first DVD for this OVA will be released on February 17, 2009 with the 14th volume of the Japanese manga. Another two DVD OVA which will cross over with this one was also announced for the Tsubasa series, entitled Tsubasa Shunraiki (ツバサ春雷記 Tsubasa Shunraiki) (Tsubasa Spring Thunder Chronicle).
[edit] Novel
×××HOLiC ANOTHERHOLiC Landolt-Ring Aerosol (×××HOLiC アナザーホリック ランドルト環エアロゾル Horikku Anazāhorikku Randoruto-Kan Earozoru),[7] a novel set within the series was written by Nisio Isin and published in Japan on August 1, 2006[8]. The first chapter of the novel, "OUTERHOLiC," was the basis for episode 17 of the animated series. The novel includes original artwork by Clamp. Del Rey published an English translation of xxxHOLiC: AnotherHOLiC[9], released on October 28, 2008[10].
[edit] Fanbooks
Several fanbooks have been released in Japan.
- Gekijōban ×××HOLiC Official Fanbook (劇場版 ×××HOLiC OFFICIAL FANBOOK ) – Released August 17, 2005, ISBN 9784063720495 [1]
- TV Animation ×××HOLiC Extra Official Guide Released May 17, 2006, ISBN 9784063721515 [2]
- Shinpan ×××HOLiC Dokuhon (新版 ×××HOLiC読本?, "Brand New ×××HOLiC Reading-book") – Released November 17, 2006, ISBN 9784063722260 [3]
[edit] Video Game
An adventure game by Marvelous Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 video game console was released in Japan on August 9, 2007,[4] named ×××HOLiC ~Watanuki no Izayoi Sowa~ (×××HOLiC 〜四月一日の十六夜草話〜?, "Watanuki's Sixteen-day-old Moon Grass Story").[5]
[edit] Design
[edit] Themes
Watanuki's growth and change caused by his experiences from meeting one person is a recurring theme. According to a fortune teller in volume 2, Yūko is the one that will change Watanuki. However, it is implied that he will be linked to both Yūko and Dōmeki and that all their connections were foreseen.
Recently in the story, adding to the theme of change, there is a reference to X/1999, as Yūko mentions something similar to what Kakyō Kuzuki says in a certain part of the story: "To change the world, you have to change yourself".
One such theme is the concept of hitsuzen (必然 ), first introduced by Yūko in this story, but in terms of CLAMP storylines it was first introduced by the character of Kaho Mizuki in Cardcaptor Sakura. Hitsuzen has no direct translation into English (which is why Del Rey has opted to keep the Japanese term whenever it appears in Tsubasa or xxxHolic), but can be interpreted as referring to inevitability, destiny, or fate.
Interpreting hitsuzen as "fate" is not inaccurate, but in the context of the story, "fate" is implied as something that is immutable and definite, giving the idea that whoever is bound by fate is nothing more than its puppet. Instead, hitsuzen is the idea that an action is inevitable because without it, other related events in the future could not happen. Therefore all decisions and actions are related, and there can be no coincidence, only hitsuzen. Other English translations of the remark have rendered hitsuzen as "inevitability."[citation needed]
Another theme present in xxxHolic and other Clamp works can be observed in the first volume of the series. When Watanuki introduces himself to Yūko, he gives her his real name as a common courtesy. Because his name is also an obvious reference to the date of his birth (spelt in kanji, his name is 四月一日, a spelling also meaning April 1, a birthday shared by Cardcaptor Sakura's Sakura Kinomoto, and the incarnations of herself and Syaoran in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle), he has given her two key bits of information that will inevitably give someone the power to discover everything about him (based on his birthday) and control his destiny (from his name). This theme has previously appeared in Tokyo Babylon, where Subaru Sumeragi made a similar mistake revealing his true birthdate to Seishirō Sakurazuka.
TV Themes Opening theme:
- "19sai (19才 Jūkyū-sai)" by Shikao Suga[11]
- "NOBODY KNOWS" by Shikao Suga (xxxHOLiC: Kei)[12]
- "Sanagi" by Shikao Suga (xxxHOLiC: A Midsummer Night's Dream)
- "Sofa" by Shikao Suga (xxxHOLiC OVA Shunmuki: episode 1)
Ending themes:
- "Reason" by Fonogenico (episodes 1-13,24) [11]
- Kagerou (蜉蝣-かげろう- Kagerou -Kagerou-) by BUCK-TICK (episodes 14-23) [11]
- "Honey Honey" by Seamo featuring Ayuse Kozue (xxxHOLiC: Kei)[12]
- "Cherish" by AZU (xxxHOLiC OVA Shunmuki: episode 1)
[edit] Trivia
 | Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (April 2008) |
One major factor in xxxHolic is the connections between Clamp's other manga; many of Clamp's characters outside of xxxHolic appear or are referenced about in this manga. In Chapter 3, Yūko tells Watanuki about a girl living in this world with her boyfriend: Sakura Kinomoto, the protagonist of Cardcaptor Sakura. In the 12th and 13th chapter, characters from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, one of Clamp's other series, make their first appearance in the story. xxxHolic character Yūko Ichihara likewise appears in a corresponding chapter of Tsubasa. In the 13th chapter, Watanuki meets Mokona which Yūko says was created as a model using the original Mokona from Magic Knight Rayearth. In Chapter 8, when Watanuki goes to a drug store, he meets Kazahaya and Rikuo, characters from Legal Drug. A fortune teller friend of Yūko's appears in Kobato and also appears in Chapter 16 of xxxHolic, though the old lady has a bigger significance in xxxHolic. In addition, various items, like headphones resembling Chi's ear pods (from Chobits), a replica of Sakura's wand from Cardcaptor Sakura, and also the first book Chi reads in Chobits ( A City with No People ) appear in episode 4 with Maro and Moro reading it. Yūko's use of hitsuzen has also been mentioned in Cardcaptor Sakura by Kaho Mizuki as she remarks that "there are no coincidences, only hitsuzen".[13] The link between other series is one of the focal points of xxxHolic, and the two series Tsubasa and xxxHolic are intimately linked and frequently crossed over.
Additionally Yūko makes references to other characters from different works of Clamp, though she rarely calls them by name.
Clamp have stated that Tsubasa and xxxHolic are meant to tie all of their works together, yet still stand alone as their own stories.
Other, non-Clamp anime and manga series are often referenced by various characters, usually Yūko. These works tend to be older anime.
In chapter 8 of the comic, Yūko uses a marker to write Zantetsuken (The Sword That Cuts Iron) on a baseball bat. She then goes through a bunch of action poses and cuts a laptop ending with Goemon Ishikawa's trademark phrase from Lupin III by Monkey Punch. Another reference made by Yūko, is in chapter 42 of the manga is to Cat's Eye. Other references include Urusei Yatsura by Rumiko Takahashi in chapter 46, etc.
In episode 1 of the second series, xxxHolic: Kei, Yūko is seen reading an issue of Ōkiku Furikabutte (おおきく振りかぶって), a popular baseball manga; earlier in that episode the characters were seen watching a baseball match in which the player had the same uniform as the characters of that manga. There are two common links between Ōkiku Furikabutte and xxxHolic – the comics they are based on are both published by Kodansha, while their animated adaptations are both directed by Tsutomu Mizushima.
In Episode 3 Maru and Moro are seen playing with a Tachikoma model, the spider-like mecha of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and a Yamamoto battleship model, both built by Yūko and company while waiting for Watanuki to return. The Ghost in the Shell and xxxHolic franchises are both animated by Production I.G.
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