 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DEL REY | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | NISIOSIN / CLAMP | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 203 | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 10/28/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/13/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
xxxHolic the novel offers three captivating stories set in CLAMP’s mesmerizing Holic world that challenge our views of humanity, happiness, and reality. NISIOISIN, the author of The Kubikiri Cycle and Death Note: Another Note the novel, again displays gripping cerebral storytelling that intertwines with CLAMP’s supernatural Holic series to create three enthralling tales. The first questions happiness when a young woman who has it all keeps getting sabotaged. A chance meeting with Watanuki has him seeing something, something indefinable over her shoulder. In order to help her, he brings her to Yuko, the dimensional witch who grants wishes…for a price. As Watanuki’s investigation progresses, he is forced by Yuko’s questions and the challenge of the case to wonder at the cost of happiness and the choices one makes. Everything has a price. For everything gained, something is lost. In this tale Watanuki meets a woman who has made a fascinating choice in regards to her own happiness and the cost she is wiling to pay and in so doing challenges what Watanuki believes in regards to the very definition of what happiness is and what it means in terms of one’s life. The second story has Watanuki helping a classmate when he is alerted to a girl who is receiving message from her recently deceased friend. Riddled with guilt, the girl is being told to punish herself. Watanuki tries to solve the problem in time to put both the deceased and the girl’s guilt to rest. But is it a case of a ghost or merely a selfish desire manifesting itself? Again NISIOISIN challenges not only the main character, Watanuki, but also the reader’s concepts of perception and logic. Yuko comes across as mysterious yet merciless as ever in these tales and it makes her even more enigmatic than usual. The final tale is perhaps the most unsettling. A man with his own abnormal sight approaches Watanuki to join a dubious group with a complex theory. His World Eye Theory is hard for Watanuki to digest. Their discussion proves upsetting to Watanuki and laces doubts in the lad who can see ghosts. He begins to question his relationship with Yuko, his ability, and what reality truly is. But will he leave it all behind in order to join this uneasy character? As with all of NISIOISIN’s writings, each tale in the Holic novel proves to be cerebrally provocative. The book also holds three title pages for each of the three tales done by CLAMP. The book has a gorgeous dust jacket with a complex gold imprinted design that immediately captures the gaze, not unlike the intricate and arresting stories.
IN SUMMARY:
xxxHolic: Anotherholic the novel holds three stand alone stories set in the world of Holic that mesmerize and challenge one’s perceptions. |
