 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH DD 5.1 / 2.0 AND
JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 100 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV PG | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 03/25/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 04/16/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
Based on CLAMP’s hugely popular manga, xxxHolic (often called Holic for short) the anime unfurls like a dream…or someone’s nightmare. Watanuki is a high-strung but good hearted fellow with a major problem: his blood is cursed. What that means is that he sees spirits of all shapes and sizes and they see him, are drawn to him and can weigh him down or pull at him like a puppet. It’s been an aggravating life for Watanuki and it’s about to hit a new level of frustration with a whole lot of mystery when he finds himself on the door of a strange curiosity shop. There he meets the mysterious and beautiful Yuko. And there’s one more thing - she’s a dimensional witch. xxHolic is one of the most distinctly imaginative series in all of anime. Yuko grants wishes for a price and her clients and the costs are never what you think they will be. Unexpected, richly creative and utterly escapist, xxxHolic is an anime no animation fan can resist. Nor should you want to. The show has a comedic flair that cannot be surpassed. Watanuki isn’t all in awe of the languid witch or the supernatural circumstances he finds himself in. Instead he often bitterly complains and resents it all. In exchange for not being troubled by the spirits so much, he must work for the ‘store’ as a part-timer. Often Yuko forces him to clean and cook and give her parties with lots and lots of sake. But don’t let her mischievous side fool you, when it comes to the supernatural, Yuko is all business. And despite the way she toys gleefully with Watanuki, he seems to have a far more important role to play in the scheme of things. In this first volume we see how Watanuki first becomes involved (or should that be ensnared?) by Yuko. Pretty soon he gets mixed up with the various clients Yuko services. In volume one there is a woman with a strange affliction, bizarre occurrences at a girls’ school, and a lesson in fortune-telling. Each has its surprises. Although the supernatural aspects could at times be interpreted as eerie, overall it is far more compelling, even alluring than anything else. Each serves as a lesson of sorts to Watanuki. It is also in this first volume that he is paired up with Domeki. How his fellow classmate became involved in all of this and knows Yuko is unclear so far in the anime, but one thing for certain is that Watanuki doesn’t like him, not one little bit. He views the sarcastic deadpan comments of Domeki as incendiary insults and views him as a rival for the sweet Himawari’s affections. But this rivalry appears to be mostly in Watanuki’s own mind and despite his antagonism towards Domeki and Domeki’s inability to not goad him, he needs Domeki. It seems his classmate has an unusual ‘gift’, one that makes him the perfect partner in these supernatural goings on. The story telling and the art work share a dreamy quality as if that is exactly what this is, one epic dream. Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell SAG, Le Chevalier D’Eon) and the rest of the animation production staff have done an incredible job of capturing the unique style of the original manga designs. The characters have an exaggerated look to them very long and lean, Watanuki is almost spindly. Each character has a very distinct look and the appearances of the various spirits and manifestations of otherworldly creatures and happenstances have a look quite different than anything seen in Western storytelling. The score is often a nicely done understated classical style, piano, some orchestral, while the music is another kettle of fish all together. The opening song “Nineteen” by Suga Shikao is a j-rock song reflecting the angst and ambivalence of young life, all done with a slight Persian influence to the music. The ending song “Reason” by Fonogenico offers a different tone and no less entertaining. Along with the music, the voice quality of the actors, both Japanese and English are exemplary. The English voice cast is particularly excellent in capturing the unique personalities of Holic’s distinct characters, rendering them unforgettable. Casting for English dubbing is always challenging in matching the characters to the voices but here FUNimation have outdone themselves. Colleen Clinkenbeard does a delicious job of eliciting the mysterious air combined with the playful sex appeal of Yuko, while J. Michael Tatum captures Domeki’s deadpan sarcasm to perfection. It is Todd Haberkom’s rendition of Watanuki that I cannot get enough of. The way he can switch his voice on a dime to show his irritation at Yuko or Domeki to switch to his silly sweet tones for his beloved Himawari are gut-bustingly funny.
EXTRAS:
Bonus features include reverse cover art, image gallery, FUNimation trailers, and clean opening and closing animation. The starter set comes with an art box to hold the entire series. The art on the box is striking, done in a flat black, the title is done in an understated engraved silver lettering and just below is wraparound art of the languorous witch Yuko on both sides and Domeki and Watanuki on the box’s spine.
IN SUMMARY:
xxHolic is a dream you won’t want to escape from.
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