Customer Reviews

xxxHOLiC, Vol. 8

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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In volume 8 of the manga, the story of Watanuki's missing eye continues. It is a prized item within the spirit realm and soon, the very pretty youkai/sprite Zashiki-Warashi (whom you'll remember has a crush on Watanuki) is involved in this. However, she is captured by the evil Jorô-Gumo, leading her crew of loyal Karasu Tengu to seek Yûko-san's (and ultimately Watanuki's) help.

The second story in the manga is about the thunder creature Raijû, whom Watanuki notices in an appliance store and has to rescue.

The final story features a snow man contest between Watanuki and Doumeki-kun with the winner getting a special prize as Yûko-san observes.

It was great seeing the Zashiki-Warashi return to the story. I really like her, though it was a shame that she and Watanuki didn't get to spend more time together at the end. The resolution of Watanuki's eye-arc was rather interesting and could lead to some additional "fun" down the road.

The story of Raijû was OK. It gave us another look at Watanuki's progress since meeting Yûko-san, but also provided an interesting revelation about Doumeki-kun. The story of the snowman felt like filler to me, but I didn't mind.

Del Rey does its usual good job with this title. Hat's off to the translator here!

Bottom line: More good "xxxHOLiC" goodness, with the big plus for the return of the Zashiki-Warashi.

xxxHolic number 8 is one of the best in the Clamp series. Watanuki has given up searching for his lost eye which the grudge of the spider take him away until he starts seeing strange things with his blind eye. They find out that its coming from the spiderqueen which is holding the power of watanukis sight in her hands. All demons of the "other world" are in a great hurry to get the incredible power inheriting watanukis eye to increase their strength. The Zashiki Warashi from the mountain tries to bring watanukis eye back and gets captured by the spiderqueen. So its watanukis turn to save her, but can he get back both of them??

First of all i hope this review is a little helpfull, i apologize for any failures and mistakes in my writing!
(Im from Austria, so german would be better ;-)

I really love all mangas and animes from clamp, and xxxHolic and Tsubasa are my favourites! The story and the Characters are so fantastic! Watch out for the next issues, its worth it!

CLAMP, xxxHolic vol. 8 (Del Rey, 2006)

A spirit reveals to Watanuki that his right eye has become a much sought-after item in the spirit world. When an old friend gets kidnapped, Watanuki is sent to rescue her, and finds himself at the center of a power struggle-- with that same right eye at its heart. While the series does feel like it's starting to cohere, it's still fragmentary, which keeps me from truly embracing it, but I get the feeling things will really gear up in a couple more volumes. Worth sticking with so far. ***

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CLAMP, xxxHolic vol. 9 (Del Rey, 2006)

It's the usual, pretty much. The same running jokes, the same episodic feel, everything about xxxHolic that's had me annoyed the past few collections without any of the good stuff. Well, okay, some of the good stuff--the main story that ran through this volume was stronger than they have been recently--but I still think I'm done with this one for at least a while. **

Wantanuki has lost his eye by a spider's curse. In this episode we see how the situation is resolved. We also see a spirit who is in love with Wantanuki and is willing to fight for him to save his eye. She is in trouble also. Can Wantanuki protect both his eye and the female spirit from a terrible fate? How does Domeki feel about the whole situation? This episode tells that story.

The major chunk of this volume of xxxHOLiC deals with the state of Watanuki's eyesight - and a conclusion of sorts to that arc.

Watanuki's strange life gets a spike in the weirdness level as the spirit world is abuzz with the news of his missing eye, a highly prized item considering it's magical power. Unfortunately, the Zashiki-Warashi has been endangered trying to get his eye back for him. A guilt-stricken Watanuki races to the rescue with the pipe-fox spirit. Although the danger turns out to be greater than he could have imagined, he faces the Demon Queen of Spiders herself, determined to rescue his gentle friend or die trying...

This really is a turning point for Watanuki, whose self-esteem is so low that he has no concept of why anyone would care so much about him, and the malicious Spider Queen teaches him a hard-earned lesson - no man is an island, we touch the people who care about us, and therefore have a responsibility to take care of ourselves for their peace of mind.

It's good to see that the Zashiki-Warashi is turning out to be a recuring character, and there's a very sweet scene between her and Watanuki at the end of the incident. There's even some very nice interaction between Watanuki and the touchingly devoted pipe fox spirit. The experience also affects Watanuki's relationship with Domeki, as he finally decides to let himself lean on Domeki a little and accepts that the other boy isn't going to let him go through the long haul alone.

The volume caps off with - what else? - a predictably unfairly one-sided snowball fight after the first snowfall of the season. It's a welcome little breather, as Watanuki surely has some rough patches ahead before his connection to the spirit world ends.

This series is fantastic.I enjoy each new eddition and eagerly await the next.Clamp has done it again!