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Reviews
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Tuesday, 29 July 2008 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DEL REY | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | CLAMP | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 186 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | T | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 06/24/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 07/29/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
Dreams overtake reality to create a potential nightmare for Watanuki. His dreams are becoming more peculiar and more powerful. Whether awake or asleep, at any given moment, he is taken to his dreams, threatening his ability to distinguish dreams from reality. With his very sanity at risk, he turns to Yuko. It’s one of the most moving volumes of holic to date. The dreams-versus-reality theme of this volume gives the manga a strong surrealistic flair. Although it taps into more regular holic fare such as Wataniki helping the abused psychic girl, Kohane, the manga’s focus is primarily on Watanuki and the strange visitor who keeps entering his dreams – the beautiful and tragic princess, Sakura, from the Tsubasa series. Because the English publication of xxxholic is a volume or two ahead of Tsubasa’s release, Tsubasa fans keeping abreast of xxxholic will have some spoilers in the volume of holic of what is happing in the world of Tsubasa. Not only do these recent chapters bring Watanuki’s reality and sanity into question, they also aerve to show how much he has grown since just meeting Yuko. Even his usually antagonistic banter with Domeki is softened by more mature questioning and consideration. The most telling moment though is at the end of this volume when Watanuki dares to ask the enigmatic dealer of wishes what her heart’s desire is. It’s a beautifully moving moment and the single full page illustration on page 178 says it all without a single word needed. Manga extras include translation notes, notes on where holic crosses with Tsubasa, and four full color pages of manga.
IN SUMMARY:
The most recent volume of xxxholic tests the lines between dreams, reality and the heart. |
