xXxHoLic, Volume 2

“Why are there people suddenly coming out of the sky?”

Watanuki, may I suggest you get used to this kind of thing? There are many more volumes to go!

It was fun to take a look at multiple universes and connections to other manga series. (I did read Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 1, but never got around to reading the rest for some reason. And I have dipped my toes into Cardcaptor Sakura the anime…) Sakura and Syaoran broke my heart a little in that first chapter.

Then we’re off to have other adventures, with Watanuki constantly out of his depth. There are clues of things to come. (Why do these butterflies keep appearing, hmm?)

I loved the ghost stories night: the stories, the scary stuff happening and Watanuki/Dômeki dynamic. The show more reveal about their supernatural dynamic is very promising indeed.

The art is gorgeous yet again, my eyes were happy :) And here is the required phrase, “I am looking forward to the next volume”, ;) show less

Watanuki's otherworldly training continues in the second Xxxholic volume, which introduces the Tsubasa storyline crossover and explores the art of fortune-telling. It seems that Watanuki disagrees with Yuko's methods, but when he is shown the true difference between real and false fortune telling he realized that he didn't know the whole story. While he is being dragged around (and ordered about) Watanuki is also learning that he may be able to solve his own ghost problem, even if he does not like the means of doing so because it means involving his rival from school.

We are now getting to the meat of the story. In this volume Watanuki's spiritual eyes do not cause him much trouble but Yuko makes up for that. In this volume we also meet more of the main cast of character's. Watanuki's rival is only a rival because Watanuki thinks that he is. In truth Domeki is a friend who likes to give Watnuki trouble. The ghost stories are fun, especially if you like mythology like I do. Again that index in the back of the book is very useful because it explains the finer details about Japan and its very unique culture. Of course the art is just wonderful. I love that in DEL REY gives full color inserts for the first couple of pages. It just makes the art really pop. More ghost stuff coming up soon!

I give this show more volume a Five out of Five stars. show less

I loved how Watanuki's employment with Yuuko is transcending. It just proves that there's more to their employee-employer relationship. But the "more" is not what you're thinking of. They're really like good friends. And their relationship will blossom more in the upcoming volumes.

In the beginning of this manga we get to see the rest of how the Tsubasa characters are brought together and sent on their way to find the memories of Sakura leaving the over-excitiable Watanuki to cope with the concept of alternate versions of himself in an infinite universe. The story then moves on and we get to discover more about Watanuki's family and school.

I did find the story interesting if not terribly exciting although it does seem to be building up to something exciting. I am curious to see how things progress and will be picking up additional volumes to read in the future. Although Yuri is a sexy character, she's not really inappropriate and I would certainly continue to suggest this manga for ages 12 and up.

I have absolutely no ability to critically evaluate this series because it's been my favorite since I first started reading manga in like 2004. This time around (I have no idea how many times I've read this series) I'm trying it without also reading Tsubasa. I am curious to see if that's possible, especially later on when the stories become more intertwined.

Watanuki finds out some more about Yuuko. Also finds out that Domeki and he are tied together, and Watanuki can't stand that idea.