xxxHolic, Volume One

Alcoholic- someone addicted to alcohol. Workaholic- a person who lives for work. Sugaholic- an individual who can’t be parted from sweets. Put -holic at the end of any word (x) and you get x-addiction.

No matter what anybody says, we’re all addicted to something in life. Be it something as innocuous as Care Bears and lollipops to more sinister addictions, such as drugs and alcohol, everyone has something they can’t live without having or doing. In CLAMP’s manga turned anime, xxxHolic, people’s bad habits come to frightening light. What’s your xxx-holic?

plot summary

Watanuki Kimihiro has been plagued by spirits his entire life. One day, Kimihiro is assaulted by an unruly batch of spirits, when suddenly, Poof! They disappear in an instant.

The reason for their disappearance is the presence of dimensional witch, Yuko, whose shop Kimihiro was passing by. Kimihiro unwillingly enters Yuko’s shop and suddenly finds himself indebted to her in return for eventual banishment of the spirits.

Poor Kimihiro must now work for Yuko until his labor equals the price of the spirit banishment. He soon realizes Yuko is much more than your average fortuneteller!

review

I had high hopes for xxxHolic after watching the xxxHolic movie, Midsummer’s Night Dream. While the anime didn’t disappoint, it wasn’t as grand as I thought it would be. I think I actually did the series a disservice by watching the movie before the anime since the movie had all sorts of bells and whistles. The series is watered down in comparison, but is nonetheless highly entertaining.

The pacing so far, is a bit on the slow side, the reason being the focus is on Kimihiro and his development, and not necessarily the dealings of Yuko’s shop. While there were “cases” for Yuko to cure, they revolved around the sympathetic Kimihiro and served to further enhance his character. The cases moved the story forward instead of stalling at them, which is a failing many anime have that incorporate individual stories.

Character Development

I got the distinct feeling Kimihiro is no pushover slouch, despite easily falling for Yuko’s dubious offer. Like Yuko says, Kimihiro’s (Yuko calls him Watanuki-with no honorific) fate is inevitable, so why fight it? When it comes to other matters, though, Kimihiro doesn’t hesitate to get involved and challenge the outcome. He’s a truly likable character with a tragic past he’s struggling to come to terms with. It makes him sympathetic, despite his crazy mood swings.

Yuko is a bit of a very stylish mystery. She appears outwardly lazily and hedonistic, what with her smoking, downing bottles of sake at noon and ordering Kimihiro to make plate after plate of food. For someone who claims to help people rid themselves of vices, she appears to have quite a few herself. Her seemingly hypocritical ways give her a human quality. But nothing is given as to how she became as powerful as she is.

Other characters, such as Shizuka Domeki and Kimihiro’s crush, Himawari Kunogi make appearances and are entertaining additions. Domeki, is vastly more interesting than Kunogi, however.

Character Design

xxxHolic’s character design can be summed up in one word: funky. Funky can be good and bad, and in this case it’s both. Ultimately, funky when taken as whole is a good thing.

The funkiest bit of design in the anime is the way the characters are drawn, which is gangly and overly long. The arms are too long, the necks are too long, the fingers are freakishly long, but when combined with the way the characters move, all the long-ness isn’t as weird as it first seems.

There’s a lot of exaggeration in the character designs, aside from the lankiness. Eyes are hooded and too long or too wide. The hair has no details, shading or highlights. It’s a huge departure from typical anime design.

Yuko is a fashion plate, changing costumes and hairstyles throughout episodes. Her stylish appearance really adds some oomph to the already stylized series. Her get-ups are highly detailed affairs, complete with jewelry and lace.

The spirits are represented as anthropomorphic piles of smoke and various eyeballs. Is their design a commentary on the way people superimpose their beliefs and fears onto ghosts, making them more fearsome than they are?

The anime also doesn’t take itself too seriously as many shots have trademark symbols of anime: sweat drops, stress lines, pulsing asterisk-veins, etc.

xxxHolics designs are truly unique in a medium awash with sameness and blah.

Animation

Production IG, the studio responsible for the xxxHolic movie, animated the series as well. The series, however, was animated in a poor to average manner, whereas the movie was superb. There weren’t many detailed shots, the animation was out of focus in some shots and overall the animation was slightly hazy and grainy.

Music

“19-sai“, the opening theme by Sugo Shikao is a perfect fit for the anime and is good song in itself. The song has a bit of an underground feel along with mainstream appeal. I’m reminded of My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult by the first strains of the song. Anyone familiar with the band would agree their supernatural themes and riffs are a good match to an anime about the same.

The ending is a slightly sassy number called, “Reason“, by Fonogenico. It’s soft, with a bit of a beat.

Voice Acting

Both the English and Japanese voice casts are well done, with the Japanese being somewhat better. Yuko’s English voice actress, Colleen Clinkenbeard, nailed Yuko’s lazy airs. Some people may find Kimihiro’s character annoying in English. If that happens, switch to Japanese.

Conclusion

Though the animation isn’t as good as it should be, the story itself is still solid and interesting. The lighthearted moments, supernatural tones, intriguing character designs and human drama in the series are an entertaining combination.

Rating

xxxHolic, Volume One gets 3 outta 4 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Funimation
• Release Date:March 25, 2008
• Retail Price: $29.98
• Number of discs:1
• Episodes:1-4
• Run Time:100 minutes
• Rating: TV-PG
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen