xxxHolic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| xxxHolic | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| xxxホリック (Horikku) |
|||
| Genre | Fantasy, supernatural | ||
| Manga | |||
| Author | Clamp | ||
| Publisher |  Kodansha |
||
| English publisher |   Del Rey |
||
|
|||
| Demographic | Seinen | ||
| Serialized in | Weekly Young Magazine | ||
| Original run | February 24, 2003 – ongoing | ||
| Volumes | 13 volumes (158 chapters) | ||
| Animated film: xxxHolic - A Midsummer Night's Dream | |||
| Director | Tsutomu Mizushima | ||
| Studio | Production I.G | ||
| Licensor | FUNimation Entertainment |
||
| Released | August 20, 2005 | ||
| Runtime | 1:00:00 | ||
| TV anime | |||
| Director | Tsutomu Mizushima | ||
| Studio | Production I.G |
||
| Licensor | FUNimation Entertainment  Madman Entertainment |
||
| Network | TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) | ||
| Original run | April 6, 2006 – September 28, 2006 | ||
| Episodes | 24 | ||
| Novel: xxxHolic: Another Holic Landolt-Ring Aerosol | |||
| Author | Nisio Isin | ||
| Illustrator | Clamp | ||
| Publisher | Kodansha Del Rey |
||
| Published | 2006 | ||
| Volumes | 1 | ||
| TV anime: xxxHolic: Kei | |||
| Director | Tsutomu Mizushima | ||
| Studio | Production I.G |
||
| Network | TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) | ||
| Original run | April 3, 2008 – ongoing | ||
| Episodes | 26 | ||
xxxHolic (xxxホリック Horikku?, pronounced -holic as in alcoholic, as the "xxx" denotes a variable) is a seinen manga series planned and presented by Clamp. It has been serialized in Kodansha's Young KC Deluxe periodically since 2003 and is currently published in the United States by Del Rey Manga.
The animated movie xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream was released in Japan on August 20, 2005. The DVD of the movie was released on November 24, 2006 and a TV animation series began airing on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) on April 6, 2006 in Japan. Both the movie and TV series have been licensed by FUNimation for the USA. A second season for the TV animation series entitled xxxHolic: Kei started airing on April 3, 2008.
Similar to the announcement in its sister publication Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle months earlier, on April 28, 2008, in chapter 157 prior to beginning a five week hiatus, it was announced that xxxHolic is approaching its conclusion.
Contents |
[edit] 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 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 annoyances with Dōmeki.
[edit] Characters
- See also: List of xxxHolic 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. Despite the fact that he hates his ability, Watanuki often goes out of his way to help people that he comes into contact with because of his power, even when he is not required to do so by his job. 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. She knows many different people, including Clow Reed together with whom she created the Mokonas. 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 be immune to most curses, mostly due to his ancestry and how his grandfather taught and raised him in a 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] Adaptations
[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?), the subtitle being a reference to William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, premiered on August 20, 2005.
In the film, Yūko receives a request from a woman to help her back into her mansion which for some reason does not allow her to enter. Yūko says since Watanuki was the one who brought the client to her, Watanuki should be the one to grant her wish, and therefore brought along. Dōmeki is also brought along to help and Yūko attends not only to grant her client's wish but also because she is invited to the mansion where many famous collectors were also invited with the same letter. Inside the mansion are strange rooms and mysterious letters telling its guests what do to in place of a host. Though the collectors think up the theory of a mysterious auction being held like in an urban legend, it becomes apparent that something more sinister and mysterious going on. One after another, each collector disappears and a number of other strange occurrences happen during the night. The real reasons behind the invitations must be discovered in order for Yūko and company to get to the bottom of this mystery.
The film was selected as a finalist for the prestigious 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
- See also: List of xxxHolic episodes
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. There will be 26 episodes. The main staff and cast remains the same as in the first season.[1]. "Kei", 継 (けい / ケイ?) in Japanese, means "sequel" here. 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.
[edit] Novel
xxxHolic: Another Holic Landolt-Ring Aerosol, a novel based on the series and written by Nisio Isin, was published in Japan in August 2006. The first chapter of the novel formed the basis for episode 17 of the anime. Del Rey have announced that they will be publishing the novel in English in 2008.[2]
[edit] Design
[edit] Themes
Because xxxHolic partly serves to unite Clamp's works together, some recurring themes from their previous works are prominently featured.
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.
One such theme is the concept of hitsuzen (必然?), first introduced by Yūko. 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.
Hitsuzen has been mentioned in Cardcaptor Sakura by Kaho Mizuki as she remarks that "there are no coincidences, only hitsuzen".[3] Other English translations of the remark have rendered hitsuzen as "inevitability". It could also be interpreted as a form of determinism or a more pro-active form of the Butterfly Effect concept. More probably it might be an amalgam of those concepts.
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 (April 1, shared by Cardcaptor Sakura's Sakura Kinomoto, 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.
[edit] Relation to other series
 |
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
[edit] Clamp related
One major factor in xxxHolic is the connections between Clamp's other manga; many of Clamp's characters outside of xxxHolic appear 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 Yuuko 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 Yuuko'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 Persocom ears (from Chobits), or Sakura's wand from Cardcaptor Sakura, and also the first book Chi read in chobits appear. 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 Yuuko makes references to other characters from different works of Clamp but rarely calls them by name.
Clamp has stated that Tsubasa and xxxHolic are meant to tie all of their works together, yet still stand alone as their own stories.
[edit] Non-Clamp related
Other, non-Clamp anime and manga series are often referenced by various characters, usually Yūko. These works tend to be older anime.
In chapter 6, she 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. Other references include Urusei Yatsura by Rumiko Takahashi in chapter 46, etc.
In Episode 1 of the 2nd season anime of xxxHolic, xxxHolic Kei, Yūko is seen reading an issue of Ookiku Furikabutte, a baseball manga, earlier in that episode when they were watching Baseball the player had the same uniform as the characters of that manga,in Episode 3 Maru and Moro were playing with a Tachikoma plamo, a spider-like mecha from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex while the other played with Yamamoto battleship plamo, both built by Yūko and company while waiting for Watanuki to return. Ghost in a Shell: Stand Alone Complex and xxxHolic anime franchise are both under Production I.G.
xxxHolic Kei episode 4, Yuuko is seen holding a copy of Weekly Young Magazine (In which the xxxHolic manga is serialized).
[edit] Media
[edit] Books
Several fanbooks have been released in Japan.
- 劇場版xxxHOLiC OFFICIAL FANBOOK Gekijōban xxxHOLiC OFFICIAL FANBOOK (ISBN 9784063720495) Release date: August 17, 2005
- TV Animation xxxHOLiC Extra Official Guide (ISBN 9784063721515) Release date: May 17, 2006
- XXXHOLiC読本 新版 xxxHOLiC Shinpan Dokuhon (ISBN 9784063722260) Release date: November 17, 2006
[edit] Theme songs
- TV series
- Opening: "19-sai" (19才 Jūkyū-sai?) by Shikao Suga.
- 1st Ending (eps. 1-13, 24): "Reason" by Fonogenico.
- 2nd Ending (eps. 14-23): "Kagerō" (蜉蝣-かげろう-?) by Buck-Tick.
- Kei
- Opening: "Nobody Knows" by Shikao Suga.
- Ending: "Honey Honey" by Seamo feat. Ayuse Kozue.
- Movie
- Opening: "Sanagi ~Theme from xxxHolic the Movie~" (サナギ〜theme from xxxHOLiC the movie〜, sanagi means chrysalis) by Shikao Suga.
[edit] Videogame
A game adaptation by Marvelous Interactive[citation needed] was released for PS2 in Japan on August 9, 2007, named xxxHolic: Watanuki no Izayoi Sowa (xxxHOLiC 四月一日の十六夜草話?) (while written as "shigatsu tsuitachi", it is pronounced "Watanuki")
[edit] Story Arcs
xxxHolic contains many different internal stories. These are referred to as story arcs. These arcs are attributed and used throughout all of Clamp's various anime and manga, such as Tokyo Babylon.
[edit] References
- ^ Production I.G, Release Info "xxxHolic second season announced!", August 17th, 2007
- ^ Del Rey announces xxxHolic novel
- ^ Toya: There are no coincidences... Mizuki:...Only "hitsuzen." Cardcaptor Sakura, Episode 44
[edit] External links
- Production I.G's Official xxxHolic TV series site
- Production I.G's Official xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream site
- Official game site (Japanese)
- xxxHolic (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Funimation's 'xxxHolic page
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
