xXxHoLic, Volume 3

This instalment was so much fun!

Watanuki is endearingly ridiculous about disliking Dômeki (and makes delicious lunches and snacks for him throughout the volume).

Yûko sends them on a mission all by themselves (and I am sure she is thinking long-term, somehow). Well, Himawari, Watanuki’s crush, did ask for help, so… Off they go, and sort of kind of take on some scary spirits.

The conversations between Yûko and Watanuki are hilarious, too – she objects to Watanuki using the word “clutches” when talking about her relationships with other people ;)

The main story here is of “be careful what you wish for” variety. By the way, shouldn’t witches know by now that giving someone a curious beautiful thing they want and making them show more promise not to open it… is probably a bad idea? It makes for a good, creepy supernatural story, though.

I really liked the last short chapter with the fox spirits. show less

Two of the oldest and most well-known occult objects are explored in this third installation of Watanuki's adventures - the Ouija Board (or Angel-san) and the Monkey's Paw. Both of these superstitions are just that, but the story is none the less frightening and entertaining. Watanuki is mostly a spectator - he can't really help the woman with the Monkey's Paw and Yuko does most of the work with the guardian spirit who reacts to the Angel-san - but clearly his relationship with Domeki is evolving, and this is the true theme of this collection. They still hate each other, of course, but Watanuki has almost accepted the fact that Watanuki can be very useful in helping with spirits.

xxxHolic is a unique story about a man who ends up working for a witch. He deals with spirits and tries to help others being tricked or taken advantage of by them.

The premise was super cool, but I think I would have liked this book way more if I had actually read the first two volumes. I was super intrigued and hooked, but it just felt off. I wasn't entirely sure why things were happening the way they were. If I had that extra knowledge, I definitely would have loved this book more.

The monkey paw story had me the most interested, but the previous story about the school children confused me.

The art is the best part of this book, 100%. I really liked the style and the action that was occurring on the pages. It was impressive!

Overall, this show more book was okay. I would like to read the previous two volumes before I pick this book up again. I can easily see manga fans loving it! I just need all the information before I grab this. I got this on clearance from an online book outlet since I wanted to expand my manga shelf a bit.

Three out of five stars. show less

This one is certainly my favorite volume of the series so far. The Monkey's Paw has always been an urban legend which gives me the chills and this manga did the tale justice. Some of my favorite parts were Mokona dust beating the rugs with Fai's magic staff and Watanuki wearing persocome ears. It's always fun to actually get the inside joke. Also, Domeki is an interesting character. He seems so flat most of the time, but you know there has got to be more to him. I'll certainly be reading on with this series.

The two stories in volume are pretty creepy. Himawari asks for help because one of her friends is playing with dangerous things. It really deals with the power of suggestion and in Watanuki's world that makes things really happen and almost kill him. It is pretty creepy. The second story is about a monkey's paw. That story is not native to Japan but it fits very well into this world. With the woman making wishes and understanding how dangerous the paw is. You can see the ending coming but it is still shocking. There is a little ending story about Watanuki getting Oden noddles from a fox spirit and it very cute. Nice after this hair raising volume. Very little is done about Watanuki's eyes other than he uses them to help or at least try show more and help people. I like that Watanuki continues to try and help others even when he knows that they are not going to listen to him. More spirits and stuff coming up soon!

I give this one Five out of Five stars. show less

The weird juxtaposition of macabre and humor keeps this entertaining.
And as busy" as the artwork is, CLAMP has some wonderful illustrations in this volume."

There’s a lot of action in this one, as Watanuki and Domeki battle spirits at a school. Watanuki becomes dependent on Domeki although he doesn’t want to be. CLAMP does it again.