Image Description: the book-cover of XXXHolic Omnibus – Volume 2 by CLAMP. There’s the main title, down the bottom of the cover, XXXHolic Omnibus 2, and there are three verticle bar-shaped images of the book covers of manga volumes 4, 5, and 6. From left to right, the first image is a close-up image of a woman upside down (her black hair splayed everywhere) looking directly towards the viewer. The second image is an image of Watanuki in orange-and-black themed fancy formal wear (including a top hat) holding a white piece of cloth. The third image of Yuuko, she’s holding a peacock-feather and has an elaborate blue-green-teal beaded hair-piece and matching earrings.
Title: XXXHolic Omnibus – Volume 2
Creator: CLAMP
Social Media: Goodreads and Twitter
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Format and Price: Paperback format $29.91
Stars: 5 stars out of 5
About The Book:
THE SPIRIT OF VALENTINE’S – It’s Valentine’s Day-and while Domeki is showered with chocolates and cards from girls, Watanuki has been tasked by Yuko to make chocolate cakes for her to give out as gifts, one of which is gifted to Watanuki himself. Watanuki takes this opportunity to express his feelings to Himawari through his culinary creations but through a strange turn of events finds out that his chocolates can be more than just sweets. This omnibus edition contains volumes 4, 5, and 6 of xxxHOLiC.
General Observations:
~The Plot Thickens: In this Omnibus, there is some slight Plot Development (Plot Development by CLAMP’s standards anyway), as this is the volume readers find out about “Ko” or “Angel Wings” problem (I mentioned these in my review of Tsubasa Omnibus Vol. 6). These are parasites that cause people to act out impulsively. This is because they attach themselves to “people who want strongly to be free of inhibitions”.
Eventually, these parasites feed upon the “soul”, and suck it out of the human host, leaving behind an empty shell of a person. In the anime version, Yuuko seemed rather passive about the situation, implying that these creatures were just apart of the cosmic reality she and (by extension) Watanuki exist in, however, in the manga this isn’t the case. It’s implied, although not directly said, that these “Ko” creatures were created by Fei-Wang, and Yuuko does attempt to attack one of these “Ko” creatures, however, she isn’t successful.
~Character Development – Watanuki and Domeki: As it’s mentioned several times throughout the manga, Watanuki is slow to change and grow, but growth (inspired by Yuuko and Domeki) is occurring. Slowly but surely, Watanuki is beginning to change his attitude towards Domeki, especially since it’s obvious he cares about Domeki, and it’s obvious that Domeki cares about Watanuki (for some as of yet unexplained reason), Why else would Domeki repeatedly help Watanuki with his spiritual problems?
It’s a little frustrating to watch, especially since Himawari is a little reserved and it’s pretty obvious that Domeki has no romantic interest in Himawari. But it is understandable that Watanuki would be jealous of Domeki (he is everything Watanuki would like to be). I think the better question is why does Domeki care so much? There’s something more to it than just the free lunches Watanuki is obligated to bring him as payment for past assistance.
~Unresolved Mystery: There’s something about Himawari that’s not quite right. There a few panels that imply there’s something spiritual going on with her, however, it’s not implied to be a positive thing. I want to know what it is going on with her. With regards to other plot elements and the introduction of new characters, I feel as though this omnibus planted a lot of seeds for potential plot points, whether or not these elements will pay-off later in the series is unknown.
All in all, an enjoyable read with lots of adventures into different spiritual worlds and few puzzles to solve, happy to recommend.
Available for Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
Image Description: a large white square image that has robin’s egg blue water-colour paint-style bordering up against the top and down the bottom of the picture. In the middle of the white square is the text “2019 RMFAO Genre Challenge” in fancy black handwritten text.
Ambiguous Pieces 