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Archive for the 'XXXHOLiC' Category
Hi, I’m…
Yuuko is asked by a housewife to grant a wish: to be able to quit the internet. Said housewife kinda gets molested by Yuuko in the process and, in the end, it’s really up to her. In the manga, this story moved me deeply and I’m glad that the anime conveys the meaning and atmosphere very well. It’s also becoming clearer to me that I enjoy xxxHOLiC episodes much more when Yuuko has a lot of screentime as (1) Watanuki is really irritating, especially when shouting at Doumeki and fawning over Himawari and (2) Yuuko is very oneesama. (;^_^) Continue reading ‘×××HOLiC 6′
In agreement with the consensus, I felt that ×××HOLiC has been so-so especially because it’s hard to live up to the superb animation quality of the movie. I also agree that the manga had a darker tone that doesn’t seem to have been successfully adapted into the anime. Watanuki (another one of those good-hearted but intensely whiny male leads) also became more annoying in the anime because I couldn’t just skip over his tantrums like I did in the manga.
This episode recovered some of my enthusiasm for this series. Firstly, there was lots of Yuuko. Love her stage presence and her outfits. Secondly, some scenes felt more complete in animated form e.g. Yuuko’s surprise at the gate of the first fortunetelling venue, her cold disdain during the first session and the odd mix of mystery and soothing of the whole mood of the second session.
I’m no expert at calligraphy but I can’t resist commenting that Yuuko’s brushwork seems to suggest someone who responds to the burdens of the world by being nimble and as light as a feather.
The ×××HOLiC movie, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, was released on 2005-08-20 (ANN - see also for introductory synposis) and I’ve been looking forward to it since watching the trailer. Really hope that Arienai Fansubs will pick this up as my understanding of the movie, based on my half-baked Japanese, is far from perfect. Also looking forward to a post from CLAMP specialist, Dav, at Takoyaki & Ocha. I would be most grateful if readers could point out my errors or omissions.
I’ve chosen to use “×” (multiplication sign) for the first three characters instead of xxxHOLiC or XXXHOLiC - mostly because the series name is read simply as “holic” (ホリック) with the first three characters representing blanks rather than sounds. There’s variation on the official website so this is just a note on my personal perference.
Kimihiro Watanuki - a young man with the cursed blood of being able to see spirits but also attract them to him; Domeki - a schoolmate, archer, from a family of exorcists, his special ability is to repel spirits with his mere presence; Himawari - love interest of Watanuki, smells of trouble despite her utter niceness; Yûko Ichihara - the time-space witch, a powerful (moon) magic-user whom Watanuki works for to cure his curse. Further summary, spoilers and 129 screencaps. The screencap quality isn’t great as the file size was a manageable 445 megs. If it were the same quality (assuming same encoding) as for the trailer, it would have ended up at almost 900 megs! Continue reading ‘×××HOLiC: A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
Up to my ears in course work now. T_T Entries on SHUFFLE! 18 and Mai Otome 07 will be a bit late. On a happier note, the past month’s consolidated loot from Forbidden Planet, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.co.jp (via the Yuricon Shop):
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (1st Gig) DVD box set
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface
- Yuri Hime Vol.2
- Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl Vol.2
- xxxHolic Vol.1-6
The Mahoro towel underneath was a present from Stripey btw. ^_^