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Posts Tagged XXXHolic

Manga Minis: Captain Ken Reaches Kickstarter Goal, More Tsubasa from CLAMP, Rescuse from Viz, and CNN Doesn’t Get It

Manga Minis: Captain Ken Reaches Kickstarter Goal, More Tsubasa from CLAMP, Rescuse from Viz, and CNN Doesn't Get It

 CNN released a video report about manga and anime this week, in response to a recent bill being passed in Japan that bans child pornography. To little surprise, but plenty of outrage, CNN’s take on the subject was a pretty big over-simplification and make sweeping generalizations about entire mediums of entertainment. Fun!

I find the whole thing exhausting, as I generally do with these painful outsiders-looking-in reports that are just looking for a dramatic angle. It’s some relief knowing this sort of stuff always just blows over and away, but for those curious the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund did a good overview.

 Digital Manga’s Kickstarter for Captain Ken reached its goal of $13000 this past Wednesday. The fundraising campaign still has twelve days to go, with additional pledges going towards its stretch goals for bonus material. The book is scheduled for release to backers in February 2015, with remaining volumes out to the public in March.

 Viz Media announced two more ‘license rescues’ from Tokyopop’s expired library – Fate/Stay Night and Trinity Blood. Both titles are currently being released in digital editions under their Viz Select imprint. The books are available to read onViz’s website, or by downloading via their mobile apps.

Fate/Stay NightFate/Stay Night was never entirely finished by Tokyopop, though presumably we will see the end of the manga released by Viz. A new anime based on the original game of the same name is scheduled to start this Fall. Viz Media currently has the first three volumes available.

Trinity Blood was also an originally incomplete series. It had twelve of its currently seventeen (and on-going) volumes released by Tokyopop. Digital volumes will be made available on June 24th starting with volume one.

 The manga-making team CLAMP announced that they’re creating a new Reservoir Chronicles Tsubasa series. The title will begin in Japan this summer and will connect to the already running, XXXHolic Rei. Each title acts as a semi-sequel to their original parent series, Reservoir Chronicle Tsubasa and XXXHolic. It’s CLAMP, so it’s complicated. Both originals have already been released in full in English, along with their anime adaptations.

Dark Horse is currently releasing XXXHolic Rei and has been re-releasing most of CLAMP’s previously published titles in shiny new omnibus editions. I imagine it’s only a matter of time until we see them pick up this new Tsubasa series as well.

 After a seven year pause between releases, Viz Media was pleased to announce that they’re publishing the third volume of Bisco Hatori’s Millenium Snow this week. The previous two volumes of the vampire series were released back in 2007. Viz Media also released a handy 2-in-1 omnibus edition of Millenium Snow this week (Amazon CAN | US), making it easy for readers who don’t have the original singles to purchase the complete series to date. Bisso Hatori is best known for their previous series, Ouran High School Host Club.


Kodansha Comics Licenses Monsters, Romance and a Sprinkle of CLAMP at SDCC 2013

Kodansha Comics Licenses Monsters, Romance and a Sprinkle of CLAMP

It’s San Diego Comic Con this weekend, which means no shortage of pop culture news flooding the internet. It’s an overwhelming but beautiful thing! Manga publishers  in attendance are having panels to share news of their own, and the first big event came from Kodansha Comics on Friday.

During their panel, Kodansha Comics announced the following licenses:

Monster Soul – Hiro Mashima
My Little Monster – Robico
Say “I Love You.” – Kanae Hazuki
XXXHOLiC: Rei – CLAMP

Monster Soul is a two volume series by Hiro Mashima, creator of the better known Fairy Tail. This story takes place in a land inhabited by demons and humans where we follow a cast of characters embroiled in a war between the races. Volume one is scheduled for May 2014.

My Little Monster is a quasi-romance story about a loner who inadvertently becomes the object of affection for a trouble-maker in her class. While this is Robico’s first time being published in English, readers may be familiar with their work already as My Little Monster has an anime which was streamed on Crunchyroll. We should see the first volume of My Little Monster in March 2014.

Meanwhile, Say “I Love You.”‘s creator, Kanae Hazuki, has had another series previously released in English – Voices of Love. I enjoyed that short story anthology as a collection of  comics  targeted at adult women, which aren’t exactly common place. Say “I Love You.” looks to be more the standard school-life love story, but I enjoyed Voices of Love enough to look forward to it. This series also had an anime adaptation which Crunchyroll streamed. Volume one of the manga is scheduled for April 2014.

XXXHolic: Rei is a title that I knew would be licensed eventually, but I was a bit surprised to see it announced so soon. This series is a continuation/spin-off/additional content set (because with CLAMP who knows which) of XXXHolic. It’s only been running in Japan since earlier this year, and doesn’t have a collected volume yet. It’s likely because of this that Kodansha Comics isn’t able to pinpoint an exact publication date but did say the plan was for 2013.

Kodansha Comics also revealed they’ll be releasing CLAMP’s original XXXHolic series, and the parallel-running, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, as three in one omnibus volumes. These are slated to begin early 2014. This is great news for those who missed the original single volume run by Del Rey, which are now out of print and predominantly unavailable to buy. I adored both these series, even if they occasionally strangled themselves in plot knots.

All in all, this is a great batch of licenses from Kodansha with titles that come from established artists and series. Not a bad result for SDCC, even if it may be all we get for new manga licenses at this years’ event. It’s unfortunate that Yen Press couldn’t follow up with some new titles of their own, as they cancelled their Friday panel.


Review: XXXHolic (Vol. 19)

xxxHolic (Vol. 19)

Manga-ka: CLAMP
Publisher: DelRey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: February 2012

Synopsis: “Kimihiro Watanuki has passed through many trials by fire. Once an indentured servant, he has matured and become the poised and skilled keeper of the shop that grants wishes. But Watanuki’s final wish is for himself: to meet the witch Yûko one more time. With Yûko long vanished from our world, is it even possible? That question and others are answered now in the concluding volume of the bestselling manga xxxHolic.”

Ah, CLAMP. My relationship with them is a complicated one, because I love some parts of their work but have major issues with others. The only real consistent thing I can say about them is that, throughout their ups and downs, the art is always beautiful. But sometimes the story just isn’t there, and though it pains me to say this about one of my favourite CLAMP series from, this is definitely the case with volume nineteen of xxxHolic.

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Review: XXXHolic (Vol. 12)


Manga-ka: CLAMP
Publisher: Viz
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: June 2008

Synopsis: “Lately Kimihiro Watanuki’s dreams have been pleasant escapes that have given him the chance to talk to his new friend, Haruki Domeki. But now he’s falling asleep a lot – and starting to think that his entire life with the witch Yuko might be talking place in some kind of dreamworld. Then one night his dream is visited by a pretty princess name Sakura…”

If volume eleven left you craving more, than twelve will leave you begging. Watanuki’s life is unravelling, along with his grasp on reality, as his dreams begin overlapping into his consciousness.

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Anime Review: XXXHolic (DVDs 1-3)

While my time watching anime is a mere fraction of my time reading manga, I realized I still have things to say about it! Go figure? So expect some sporadic updates like these as I share some thoughts on some recent viewings. Let’s get started with random-sporadic anime update number one shall we?

XXXHolic DVD 01

With releases that couldn’t get here fast enough for me, I’ve recently been enjoying the first three discs of XXXHolic, as released by Funimation.

Based on the manga by CLAMP, XXXHolic is a story about a boy named Watanuki who can see spirits. After trying to escape an especially persistent batch, he winds up in a mysterious shop run by the beautiful but equally mysterious, Yuko. She makes a deal with Watanuki: she will help him with his problem of seeing spirits and he in turn will work for her to pay off the debt.

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Review: XXXHolic (Vol. 01)


Manga-ka: CLAMP
Publisher: DelRey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: May 2004

Synopsis: “Watanuki Kimihiro is haunted by visions of ghosts and spirits. Seemingly by chance, he encounters a mysterious witch named Yuko, who claims she can help. In desperation he accepts, but realizes that he’s just been tricked into working for Yuko in order to pay off the cost of her services. Soon he’s employed in her little shop – a job that turns out to be nothing like his work experience!”

XXXHolic starts with an introduction to Watanuki Kimihiro, a lively young man who’s spent his life trying to deal with the ghosts and spirits that constantly harass. When he tries to outrun a particularly annoying group one day after school, he finds himself at a mysterious shop run by the beautiful, Yuuko. She offers him a fix for his problem but, in exchange, Watanuki must work for her until he can pay off the debt.

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Review: XXXHolic (Vol. 11)


Manga-ka: CLAMP
Publisher: DelRey
Rating: Teens (13+)
Released: March 2008

Synopsis: “Kimihiro Watanuki has been saved from death by the sacrifices of his friends, but his recovery time is cut short. His special connection with the spirit world is needed to investigate a terrifying haunted house, placate annoyed Warashi spirits, and face the growing threat of a shadowy figure called Fei-Wang Reed.”

It’s a continuation of the usual with XXXHolic, volume 11, but don’t think for a minute that it’s a bad thing. Watanuki continues his service to the Space-Time Witch Yuko, encountering the supernatural and living amidst a mystery so intertwined with everyone’s lives, that it’s a wonder how CLAMP will sort it all out by the time the finale rolls around.

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