Ani-Mania: ‘XXXHolic’

It’s no accident that you are reading this column. In life there is no such thing as coincidence. There is only… inevitability…

I won’t even try to hide my enthusiasm for this series. If you remember my column on collecting anime swag, you know I own two XXXHOLiC wall scrolls — one autographed by Colleen Clinkenbeard, the voice of Yuko herself, along with a clock (also autographed), and a Yuko lapel pin. I made my own Watanuki/Doumeki cosplay, and there is a stuffed black Mokona plush over the TV. In other words, I’m a fan, and so you can imagine my excitement when Funimation released the entire series of XXXHOLiC as a boxed set.

XXXHOLiC, (pronounced “Holic”; the x’s are silent), tells the story of a boy named Watanuki, who has the curse of being able to see spirits. Wherever he goes, they are drawn to him. In addition to being strange and frightening, this also plays havoc with his social life, as he is constantly being tormented by things no one else can see. Then, one day, he somehow finds his way to a mysterious shop, run by an even more mysterious woman. She introduces herself as Yuko Ichihara, and tells him that she can grant his wish. For a price . . . Watanuki will work for Yuko, and in exchange, when he has worked long enough, she will free him from his curse.

And so Watanuki finds himself working in Yuko’s magical, wish granting shop, and we find ourselves in the strange world of XXXHOLiC. The three x’s in the name are not a rating (though with Yuko’s figure, they could be) — they’re more of a place holder. Much of the series revolves around obsessions, and the lengths people will go to in order to feed them, or be freed from them. We’re familiar with terms like ‘alcoholic’, ‘shopaholic’, or ‘chocoholic’, but the habits and addictions in XXXHOLiC tend to be much stranger.

The series sits squarely in the supernatural detective genre. Most of the stories are one shots, and this episodic nature can at times leave the storyline feeling as thin as CLAMP’s impossibly skinny art designs. It’s the characters themselves who tie things together, providing much of the plot and continuity. It takes time to develop, but as we learn more about them and how they relate to one another, the show really hits its stride.

In spite of XXXHOLiC’s supernatural overtones, one of the best parts of the series is its comedy. Yuko delights in embarrassing Watanuki as she orders him to run errands, cook her meals, bring her sake, and generally bosses him around. Watanuki, for his part, is volcanic, always ready to explode, especially when it comes to his classmate Doumeki. His foul temper can always be cured, however, by one glance from Himawari, Watanuki’s ill fated love interest.

While there isn’t much in the way of an ongoing storyline, the individual episodes are really quite good, ranging from humorous to heartwarming to downright spooky. The overall effect is that XXXHOLiC feels like a collection of short stories, and having them all together in one set leaves the viewer free to pick and choose a tale to suit their mood.

The anime is based on the manga from the super group, CLAMP, the same authors who gave us Chobits and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, XXXHOLiC’s sister series. It’s interesting to see the translation to anime, in part because XXXHOLiC works so well as a manga. The series’ dark, moody feel is perfectly suited to manga’s black and white color scheme. The splash pages in between chapters, showing the cast in elaborate, impossibly detailed costumes, are heavy with ink, and reminiscent of the kinds of things that one artistic kid at your school would always be drawing in their notebook in class. Seeing those rich images and lavish costumes in color is a real treat.

One thing that did not make the jump from print is the connection between XXXHOLiC and Tsubasa. The two series are intertwined, each telling part of one, larger story. Since the anime focuses mostly on the first few volumes, where these elements are not yet heavily developed, it is able to stand on its own, but veteran fans who’ve been reading both titles for some time may be disappointed that there are no appearances from Sakura, Syaoran, or Kurogane.

The cast for the series reads like a wish-list in itself. Colleen Clinkenbeard, the seductive voice of Yuko, is also the voice of Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist, and has been staff in a tremendous number of titles, including Claymore, FMA, Negima, and the upcoming Spice and Wolf, to name just a few! Todd Haberkorn, the voice of Watanuki, is also Allen in D. Gray Man and Hikaru in Ouran High School Host Club. J. Michael Tatum, the voice of Doumeki, makes the perfect strong, silent type, also giving his talents to Kyoya, also from Host Club. Himawari, Watanuki’s love interest, is voiced by Cheraimi Leigh, who is also the voice of Akira, Fuka, Fumika, and Setsuna in Negima!?. Leah Clark, the voice of Negima’s Nodoka, is Maru, while Moru is played by Brina Palencia, the voice of Juliet (if you can’t guess the show, I’m not telling you). Fans on the wolf watch will be interested to know that Palencia will also be the voice of Holo, the Wolf in Spice and Wolf. Rounding things out, Mokona, the fuzzy mascot of the show and Yuko’s drinking buddy, is voiced by Carrie Savage, the voice of Solty in Solty Rei.

The soundtrack is great. In addition to the background music, which is suitably creepy and quirky as needed, the opening and endings are great tunes. XXXHOLiC keeps the same opening for the entire series, set to the tune of “19sai”, an appropriately angsty rock song from Shikao Suga. There are two endings, one featuring a slumbering Mokona waking up to the sounds of Fonogenico’s “Reason”, the other featuring Maru and Moro, who are thin even as chibis, playing air guitar to BUCK-TICK’s “Kagerou”. Mokona makes an appearance on air drums.

If your wish is for more anime coverage, AniMania will be happy to grant it next week. Look for a review of the second half of Romeo x Juliet, and a whole bunch of new box sets coming soon.