xxxHolic Vol 12

[meganbmoore]

For those following (if there are any on the f-list) both xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle through the US releases, I should mention that this volume contains some pretty massive spoilers through about Vol 18-20~ of Tsubasa, and I think Vol 18 only just barely came out here.

Post includes vague references to Tsubasa events in that period, but no actual spoilers.  (I'm considering up to Vol 17 of that fair game here, though, as it came out about 2 months ago.)

This is the point where I start getting irritated on behalf of the people who only follow xxxHolic.  Before (even as I was starting to read Tsubasa) I was irritated by all the "Look!  We have another series!  In the same universe!  They matter to each other!" bits.  They make sense in Tsubasa, but were fairly intrusive for xxxHolic.  Before, however, they were just minor intrusions that didn't really affect the understanding of the book itself, and you didn't need to know what was going on in Tsubasa to understand what was going on in xxxHolic itself.  Here, though, it's different.

The part of me that loves the whole Tsubasa/xxxHolic shared story and intersecting lives adores what's going on here.  Even before I cared much about her one way or the other, I always sympathized with Sakura. About mid Vol 15 of Tsubasa, I started being in a semi-regular state of heartbreak over her.  The Sakura we see here has lost what little world she has, partly because of the loss of the boy who loves her and, in many ways, was the only world she knew, and partly because the only way to save what she had left was to give it-and herself-up.  The Sakura we see here has just done that, and is lost and groundless, knowing what she has to do, but on her own at the same time.  Her scenes with Watanuki, another lost soul, in the dream world are both beautiful (in every sense) and heartbreaking.  And, of course, all the talk about the two Syaoran's and Watanuki's similarity to real!Syaoran.

But that's from the shared universe perspective.  From the perspective of just xxxHolic itself, I can't help but think it loses most of it's oomph, and a lot of it is confusing and meaningless if you don't already know what's going on.  I almost advocate skimming Tsubasa scans even with no intention of buying, just to know what's going on.  But my "No!  If it is licensed, you should buy it!" stance still wins out.

In the corner of xxxHolic alone, we have Kohane's arc starting up, but the main parts of that are still to come.  (Not really a spoiler...it's pretty obvious her events here are leading to something major in the future.)  The big thing, though, is Watanuki's realization that he knows nothing of his life outside the shop and his life connected to it and the supernatural world, and his suspicion that the world he lives in is a dream world.  Not only that, but the lines between what he thinks of as dreaming and reality are starting to blur and overlap.  Even though he says they are, I'm not sure he can really count Doumeki and Himawari as being separated from the supernatural world.  Doumeki because he has the ability to banish spirits.  Himawari is a bit more complicated, and I suspect is a Tsubasa tie.  We know from Tsubasa that Sakura has incredible luck, but that it's internalized, making her extremely lucky, but not affecting others.  Himawari, however, has externalized bad luck.  She herself isn't affected by it, but everyone else around her is.  Because of that, I've always suspected she was a part of the whole mytharc.  Actually, this volume is when I start suspecting people are really versions, souls, or memories of Tsubasa characters living in a world Yuuko created to hide them from Fei Wong Reed.  (This has yet to be confirmed or denied in scans I've read ahead on, just a theory.)

Yet, despite all this, I think the most poignant part of the whole volume is Watanuki's realization that Yuuko can't give gifts except to make people happy, because she can't give anything without demanding compensation.

No references to future events in the comments without the spoiler code, please, as I think at least one person here reads xxxHolic, but not scanslations.

Comments

[wasabi-girl1.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't read Tsubasa, so my sister had to explain what was going on when Sakura appeared in the manga. But it's ok, I didn't really like Tsubasa even though I read the first few volumes, so I'll just deal with the repercussions of not continuing on with it.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah Tsubasa is...uneven. Up until Kurogane's origin, it has some pretty good ups, but also some pretty bad downs. I really like it, but...

[danyellalot.livejournal.com]

Actually, this volume is when I start suspecting people are really versions, souls, or memories of Tsubasa characters living in a world Yuuko created to hide them from Fei Wong Reed.

That's a really good theory, and makes me think that Clow and his country also aid in that purpose... Spoilers to follow!

I think Sakura's good luck will end up having something to do with Himawari. Or at least I hope so...poor girl.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Clamp doesn't emphasize it a lot, but I often think Himawari has the worst of it of xxxHolic's characters. Watanuki and Kohane's problems are pretty visible, and easy to identify, but Himawari's are much more subtle and all encompassing.

That's a pretty good theory under the spoiler code. I admit, the Syaoran/Watanuki connection isn't one I want to examine a whole lot, as I'm sure I'll end up being wrong. That, and any theory would kill my pet "I don't really mean it, but..." theory that Watanuki is Yuuko and Clow's kid.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

That's a really interesting theory, about hiding the "versions" of the Tsubasa characters from Fei Wong Reed.

So if Sakura is Himawari and Watanuki is Syaoran, then who is Doumeki? Mokona is obviously Mokona! Maybe Doumeki is a hybrid of Fai and Kurogane? He has is gruff/protective side, but also his relatively silly bickering side.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think it was the luck thing that seriously made me go "wait a sec." It's just...too obviously a mirror, in some ways.

Actually, I think Doumeki is the only xxxHolic character who is what he says and thinks he is.

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

I must say that I would be annoyed if (1) I only read xxxHolic and not Tsubasa or (2) I wasn't keeping up-do-date via scans, so that the U.S.-published xxxHolic doesn't spoil the U.S.-published Tsubasa by being out-of-sync.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hoo yeah. I noticed that this was a really unfair volume to non-Tsubasa fans as I was reading scans, but when I sat down and started reading it, I went "Wait! We aren't here yet with US Tsubasa releases!"

[rhap-chan.livejournal.com]

I love xxxHOLiC but the initial idea that CLAMP tried to pawn off-- that you could read it without reading Tsubasa-- is a huge lie and it's really ticking me off, because I don't like Tsubasa half as much. I think the newer plot points (about the time that the mutilation starts) are absolutely ridiculous. I did like this volume, though. I just wish I didn't have to get caught up on Tsubasa to know what's going on.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Well, up until this point, it was just minor, if irritating "Look! We have another book!" intrusions. This volume was more sharing a plot with Tsubasa.

[barnabascousins.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was pretty shocked too when I picked this volume of Holic up and saw the huge jump in storylines between Tsubasa and it. Thank God for keeping up with scanlations.

Personally I was moved by Yuuko in this volume, in the last chapter especially. She genuinely cares for Watanuki, and the final image of them hugging was really touching.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think that anyone who thinks that Yuuko is playing games for fun/doesn't care/uses people as chess pieces at this point is just being stubborn. It's been made pretty clear that if she weren't confined by the rules of her role in the universe, things would be a bit different. Granted, you can't tell as well here as you can in Tsubasa that she is trying to guide and manipulate things to protect people and have the best possible outcome, but still...