xxxHOLiC 19 [Paperback]

Let me first say that this review is going to be spoiler-heavy and opinion-heavy. I mean, really. Turn back now if you don't want spoilers. There, you've been warned.

The first thing you should know about xxxHOLIC is that, after Volume 17, it is utterly incomprehensible without reading Tsubasa: RC. Tsubasa doesn't suffer from this problem; CLAMP decided to take time off from xxxHOLIC to devote to Tsubasa, and so the major events that should have been put into Holic (spoiler: Yuko dies, Watanuki gives up all of his memories) occur in Tsubasa...not HOLIC.

That means that after Vol. 17 of HOLIC, you're lost at sea without Tsubasa. I don't think this was a wise decision on CLAMP's part, but it's understandable that, after revealing what happened to Yuko months prior in Tsubasa, CLAMP wouldn't rehash it again in HOLIC. Still, I don't think it's where it belonged, but remember that Tsubasa was publishing weekly: they were full steam ahead with the plot at that point, and there was no way to keep from moving forward.

But, now we come to volume 19, the last one in the journey. We discover a number of things that have left fans very, very bitter:

1. Domeki, who has been implied to harbor feelings for Watanuki (see Vol. 18, and Watanuki's rather mean speech about "not being a cat" after blowing smoke in Domeki's face...and after having sex with the spider that ate his eye) is long dead. The Domeki we see here is his great-grandson. That means everyone Watanuki knew...are all dead. Domeki marries Kahone, it seems, for the soul purpose of providing offspring to keep Watanuki company, and this is utterly heartbreaking.
2. That egg? Not being put to any use. All that build up...nothing. This shouldn't be too surprising for people familiar with the mythology of the Phoenix: a single bird lays two eggs - from one, the bird is reborn (Tanpopo)and from the other, nothing is ever hatched, and no one knows what's inside.
3. Finally, Watanuki can leave the shop....but he decides to stay. End manga.

....Well, not quite.

And here's where my opinion comes in. Let me first say that I have read, and own, every single one of CLAMP's works, including artbooks, Clamp no Kiseki, etc. I'm a big fan, and so I've picked up on a lot of stuff they like to spread out through their manga. To "get" xxxHOLIC's ending, you need to read between the lines, and here is where those final pages - the black background, the bird (Watanuki) taking flight, reveal themselves. xxxHOLIC is more than the story of Watanuki; xxxHOLIC is the story of Clow's beginning, and Clow is the man that Watanuki will become, completing the circle of events started by Clow in Tsubasa. (For those of you who didn't read Tsubasa, Clow has a wish that Yuko, the woman he cared for deeply, wouldn't die - his wish is so powerful that it freezes Yuko in time, on the edge of death, leaving her unable to die; Fei Wang is created out of his subconscious, an Image of his desire, for the soul purpose of doing whatever it takes to make that wish come true, like a manifestation of his Id). In one fell swoop, the significance of why Clow cared so much for Yuko is revealed, in addition to why Clow would give up his life in xxxHOLIC's world to travel to Clow Country and be the Clone Sakura's father (who, otherwise, he would have *NO* connection to): remember who Watanuki is (and again, this is not a strength of xxxHOLIC, but something that is revealed in Tsubasa: Watanuki was created by the universe itself as a living vessel needed to fill the void in the world that Syaoran left, Syaoran who will later be the son of the re-incarnated soul of his clone.)

The manga comes full circle in this way; in the very beginning - the first volume of xxxHOLIC - Yuko remarks that Clow was a "creep"; she went on adventures with him when she was young, when they created the Mokona Modoki.

Watanuki stays in the shop, but eventually, after those dark pages, we see the bird take flight. I see the bird flying off in the end as Watanuki, on his way to becoming Clow (and note that he finds Clow's glasses, his own future glasses, in the shop, and that Watanuki's magic circle is Clow's), going to find young Yuko again, the woman he waited for, traveling through space and time to begin the events that we have watched unravel in Tsubasa and xxxHOLIC. The ending of xxxHOLIC is bittersweet when we read it as a standalone, but taken into context with the entire body of CLAMP's work, it is the beginning of *everything*, and so, for me, it was worth the journey.

PS: I warned you about the spoilers.

After very appropriate brief goodbyes to the Warashi girls and Himawari, who were respectively Holic's primary recurring and supporting characters throughout the series, the final volume of Holic addresses what ultimately becomes of Watanuki and Domeki.

Most Holic fans probably have an ending in mind which involves Domeki using the egg to circumvent Watanuki's predicament in a Crowning Moment of Awesome, Watanuki finally reciprocating Domeki's devotion, and the boys (who at this point aren't actually boys anymore) living together happily ever after. But fans who have read much CLAMP know that the Tsubasa gang have already dodged several humungous bullets and CLAMP isn't always kind or fair to good people...

My initial thought on the ending, without giving anything away, is that fans who tend to read with their hearts are going to be rather upset and perhaps even a little angry; while fans who tend to read logically might be more likely to see the implied choices Domeki makes as the only option he really has to ensure that Watanuki doesn't spend centuries without any loved ones beside the three other residents of the shop once the last of his closest human friends pass away.

And the egg, of which so much has been made and which has special significance to Tsubasa fans as it represents 25% of the blood and tears shed to save Fai in the Acid Tokyo arc? Let's just say not to get your hopes up after all the hype.

Holic has been an excellent series with some great mastery of subtext, but many fans are probably going to have mixed feelings about the finale.

xxxHolic is by no means one of the best manga out there, nor even CLAMP's best. That said, it's a solid series that focused largely around character development and interactions, in addition to a supernatural element and connections to CLAMP's series Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. It did a great job with this, until the last few volumes.

Without spoiling anything, suffice it to say that the series took a serious downturn around volume 17. It continued without any real direction or focus for about 20 chapters, culminating in a not only unsatisfying but absolutely infuriating ending. It's not that I look for a completely happy ending in everything I read. Ambiguous or sad endings can be great if done well (e.g. The End of Evangelion). This is not one of them.

Do yourself a favor and drop this series around volume 17. Right after a certain major event occurs (you'll know it when you get to it). The chapters after that aren't good, and the ending is abysmal.

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