xxxHOLiC Rou Final Chapter: Chapter 213... The End?

Well, following the route of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, xxxHolic seems to an abrupt end. I wasn't expecting it at all. I actually haven't been following xxxHolic that faithfully these past 8 years though I think it might be one of CLAMP's most unique works. I finally caught up with the last couple chapters. Spoiler warning...

 
So, I think that xxxHoliic ended along the lines of what I expected. The last chapter was very symbolic with minimal dialogue. The artwork was beautiful as usual, with great use and of black and white space, and I think I never found Yuuko more beautiful before. I am glad we are able to see her again, even in a dream state. Truthfully, I was pretty sure Yuuko will never come back. Watanuki would have been able to come to a new level of growth if he was able to "let go," but I think it's poignant how he shoes not to let go and continue caging his heart up. I was wondering who Yuuko reminded me of this chapter, and I realized it was Ruby Moon, especially with the butterfly obi tied in the back and the hime-haircut. Also, Watanuki looked strangely more like Eriol this last chapter, especially with the Western clothes in the dream, the Clow magic circle and the strangely more round glasses.

I think xxxHolic Rou has tragic yet somehow poignant in that Watanuki is stuck in the same spot as the world around him changes. I was a bit shocked when I heard that Himawari has married. And the most shocking part about this chapter was the fact that a century had lapsed and Doumeki is not Doumeki. I had been counting on xxxHolic to tie up the loose ends of TRC, but so much for that. Time flows differently in the TRC-verse, and since Watanuki is finally released from being bound to the store, I wonder whether Tsubasa!Syaoran can finally return to Tsubasa!Sakura. Or maybe they're all dead already as well. The last time we heard of the TRC crew, it had been 520 days since Tsu!Syaoran had returned back to Tsu!Sakura in xxxHolic Chapter 204.5 whereas over a decade has passed for Watanuki. So almost two years to every ten, if time is constant, which I doubt it is. Twenty years to get back to Sakura, if he ever did make it back. Poor Syaoran. Poor Watanuki, watching all his loved ones grow old and die, leaving only him behind. And he's still stuck in an infinite loop; it's the makings of a great sorcerer *coughClowReedcough*

I followed Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and xxxHolic less for the plot and more for the characters, and as with TRC, xxxHolic was a good study of Clow Reed for me. Why Clow Reed? I know that Clow doesn't equal Watanuki as many people theorized earlier on, but I do believe that the analogy between Clow Reed's wish/obsession to keep Yuuko alive with Watanuki's desire to see Yuuko again is pretty blatant. It's sort of the trinity of Tsubasa!Syaoran, Clone!Syaoran and Watanuki with the trinity of Clow Reed, Fei Wong Reed and Watanuki, with Watanuki Kimihiro being the intermediary force between the two entities. He's sort of like the Void Card of the Card Captor Sakura Movie 2, the null between space and time dimensions. And I think he is the loneliest of all CLAMP-dom characters. He's not even angsty or angry at his fate; he just is. Doumeki-Watanuki shippers shouldn't despair though; I see their relationship sort of in a Shuichiro-san Kohaku sort of way. Obviously, in the CLAMP world, if you reproduce, your offspring is a clone of you. And Himawari turned out to be just about the most insignificant CLAMP heroine ever. Anyhow, it's obvious that after Watanuki finally dies, they'll all be reincarnated into Horistuba Gakuen. Or maybe Horitsuba Gakuen is heaven. 

Fanart is a quick doodle I did of Yuuko after I finished reading Chapter 213. If xxxHolic had a happy ending a la Card Captor Sakura...

New Trials of CCS Chapter 63 and xxxHolic 192

Sakura and Syaoran Ending by ~wishluv on deviantART

Chapter 63: The Joining of the Circle is posted at http://wishluv.revolutionhosting.net/nt63.htm (ver.2) or http://www.fanfiction.net/s/197453/105/The_New_Trials_of_Card_Captor_Sakura_and_Friends and refer to Sakura's Magic Circle chart after you read the chapter.

I don't know why it is whenever I try to post my chapter, something happens and the revolutionhosting.net server is down briefly (which always gives me a little heart-attack.) This chapter was very difficult to write because of its length and also content--it's 80 pages size 11 font Arial in Microsoft Words. I've written all my chapters size 11 Arial in Microsoft Word, for a whopping ten years. Anyhow, Chapter 64 is another 80+ pages (currently in editing process) but I might hold out releasing Chapter 64 till December because I'm really busy right now, and I also like to synchronize the story with the season . ^_^ Chapter 63 and 64 were meant to be one chapter-- I mistakenly thought I could fit the entire Christmas storyline in one chapter. It was strange writing a non-action chapter and more of a drama saga. I'll refrain from commenting anymore until the next chapter comes out, which I had more fun writing. I wrote the beginning of this chapter, with Sakura's father in the hospital early in the summer (right after Chapter 62 came out). Anyhow, I had the worst dream that night about losing my father; I still remember it vividly because it was one of those dreams where you wake up feeling like you were crying and crying. The next day, I kept wondering why I had such a sad and disturbingly realistic dream, and it was because I'd been writing that particular scene in Chapter 63, and also, that previous day, my coworker had been talking about how her mother was ill with cancer. Dreams have often inspired ideas to write about, but this was one of the rare times that it was vice versa.

Exciting xxxHolic manga chapter this week. Chapter 192 refers to Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle characters again. Mokona Black mentions that Syaoran-tachi are still traveling and have recently returned to Piffle Country (my favorite!) and that Kurogane got himself a new prosthetic arm/ automail if this were Fullmetal Alchemist (yay!) I'm feeling a little better knowing that we will be hearing updates of Syaoran and crew like this, which leads me to believe that the TRC crew might play some important role in the future of xxxHolic. After all, there will be a point when Syaoran/Tsubasa will be freed from his price of always traveling and Watanuki from his price of always staying at the same place, hopefully. The new artbook cover for TRC is lovely as well, showing a grown up Sakura and Syaoran (Tsubasa and Tsubasa), actually looking like Mama and Papa S+S; we can tell it's them Tsubasa!S+S because Syaoran is wearing his awesome outfit from the final chapter in TRC. Maybe Tsubasa/Sakura will give birth to Clone!Syaoran some day in the future in a wonderful loop of events (hopefully not).

I like the idea that Watanuki is still learning his trade, that he doesn't always know how much is the right price to take from a person, and that he gets hurt by this. And perhaps Yuuko is in the same place where Clone!Syaoran and Sakura, because to me, TRC was THEIR story and whatever seemingly semi-happy ending CLAMP left us with Tsubasa!Syaoran and Sakura in the Epilogue of TRC is an illusion, disguising that "Clone" Sakura and Syaoran's story actually is a tragedy (thus far). I ended up feeling so sorry for Syaoran writing the new chapters that the Christmas chapter turned into semi-fluff. Lol.

Spoilers: My favorite scene this chapter is Mike and Erika's breakup scene. Maybe I'm a little evil like that. I enjoyed continuing off the "father" theme from last chapter, but this chapter I think was all about girl-power. Well, next chapter's all about the boys.

xxxHolic 籠 186 Review

SPOILERS>>>>> XXXholic Rou (Cage) again with the bird in a cage analogy...


Wow, I really was not expecting a time jump. It's strange seeing how much Watanuki has changed, especially when he's lying Yuuko style on her couch, wearing a draping kimono and smoking a pipe in this languid, laid back manner that you never saw from him before. I keep thinking back to how Watanuki was such an irritable, cranky, slightly boisterous and very silly boy. His eyes were so expressionless in that panel that it was rather heartbreaking, and I constantly applaud CLAMP's artistic execution of the full two-page spread of the "new Watanuki" to give us the full impact and also eye-candy. It is like Watanuki has taken on as much of Yuuko's characteristics in order to keep her alive within himself.

The bright side of this chapter was Doumeki's appearance and his interactions with Watanuki evokes the faint traces of the old Kimihiro Watanuki that still remains in him. Doumeki is now a folklore major? It was funny because I thought the same thing as Watanuki; that image really doesn't fit Doumeki but also reality hits how four years have already passed in the world outside. People outside are changing, developing, but Watanuki is forever trapped in one moment in time, in one mindset, with one strong desire. I'm personally very interested in Doumeki's folklore professor. Who knows if there is anything significant about this professor or not. Of course, our favorite CLAMP professor will always remain Kinomoto Fujitaka aka Clow Reed's half-reincarnation. But again, there is the painful reality that time outside of Yuuko's house is moving and shifting but for Watanuki, he is always trapped inside that house frozen in time, just waiting. It reminds me of poor Syaoran trapped inside the glass cylinder with his time and freedom sacrificed. It's also reminiscent of Princess Emeraude from Magic Knight Rayearth who was so lonely and trapped because of Rayearth's pillar system. Hence "cage" I guess.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is coming to an end very soon with only a few chapters left. I'm actually surprised it's ending so soon because I feel like there are so many loose ends to tie, and I was hoping that all the numerous characters would be able to get some resolution. Unfortunately, I feel like Kurogane and Fai have only become a backdrop to the whole Sakura and Syaoran plotline. The part of Tsubasa that I actually enjoyed the most were the little character interactions in between all the chaos like Fai and Sakura's mutual understanding (Fai is like the sister Sakura never had in my mind) or Kurogane and Syaoran's mentor and student relationship. I'm hoping that Tsubasa ends with a satisfying conclusion. I have a feeling that it will be XXXholic's role to tie all the loose ends that Tsubasa does not manage to tie up. I'm just going to trust CLAMP to let the stories come to a fitting end without fans having to rip their hairs out in agony.

On a side note, I finally watched the XXXholic Shunraiki OVAs, and I was sort of peeved at the difference in animation quality between XXXholic and the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles Shunraiki, especially because of the overlapping scene in the dream world. I have to admit, the battle between Syaoran and Syaoran in Tsubasa Shuraiki OVA 2 was awesome. But all the budget seems to have just gone to that particular scene. Also, I loved all the Tomoyo and Kurogane interactions. It makes me wonder if the rest of Tsubasa would ever get animated properly. It's a pity because Tsubasa could have become an epic anime with the right direction, supervision and budget.

I have high expectations from XXXholic's ending because for me Tsubasa was all about chaos and in-your-face shocking plot devices whereas XXXholic's strength was its restraint, gradual character development and the unique strange, artistically melancholy and mysterious ambiance of the manga. I wonder if we'll get a time jump in Tsubasa at one point as well. I'm still waiting for CCS!Syaoran and Sakura's appearance before the end of the series. It's a problem when I'm looking more forward to getting lots of pretty Sakura and Syaoran artwork in the next couple chapters than having a happy resolution. I'm also waiting for Clow Reed to make an appearance, and even more so waiting to learn that Watanuki actually becomes Clow Reed in the future and we'll have a big incestuous circle of S+S being Wata's parents, and Wata/Clow Reed being Clone!Sakura's father and we get an impossible eternal loop. Lol. I'm joking. Half. After all, I'm a fanfiction writer. It's just that as I was coloring Watanuki in this particular frame, I thought how much he resembled Eriol-kun. Anyway, who else thinks Watanuki aged very well? ^_^

Oh well, if all fails, then I'll just eagerly await glimpses of Kinomoto Touya in the upcoming Kobato anime. ^_^

xxxHolic 185 and TRC 226

Wow, I never thought I would come to say this, but at the moment, I am more in anticipation of the new xxxHolic chapter than the Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles chapter. Truthfully speaking, I was never that into xxxHolic in the beginning. I was nostalgic of CLAMP's old style of drawing, and I read xxxHolic for the tie-ins with TRC.

Watanuki is a reluctant hero, and starts out as a crabby, whiny and ungrateful high school student. He is always grumbling, he is silly with his crush for Himawari-chan. Over the course of xxxHolic, he has matured greatly starting with the spider incident and the eye-swap with Doumeki. We can see how far he has grown as a person in Chapter 185, when he claims he will take over the shop. That last shot when he takes a puff out of Yuuko's pipe will remain one of the most poignant CLAMP images to date because you see a gravity in his persona, a sense of dignity, sadness, determination and responsibility all in one panel.

I find the relationship dynamic between Yuuko and Watanuki a fascinating one. They are not exactly mentor and student, they aren't friends, they aren't lovers. You wonder what was the significance of her existence to Watanuki. Watanuki has a strong pillar system going with Doumeki by his side, but you can clearly see that "Yuuko" is the one who has left an imprint on Watanuki, changed him for better or worse. On the contrary, I find Himawari a rather shallow character, and I can't figure out her significance in the bigger pictures of things, but CLAMP may surprise us yet. Yuuko reminds me a bit of CC of Code Geass with her will to die.

In TRC 226, I found Fei Wong Reed's reaction to Yuuko's disappearance funny. You can't tell if he is angry or sad that Yuuko is gone, declaring she must be revived. I wonder if Fei was bishounen like Zagato, would he be more likable. He is possibly the most despicable character in all of CLAMPdom, but that can still be overturned. Who knows what inner demons he suffers from. TRC has come to a full loop now with the explanation of the glass cylinder scene in Chapter 225. I am glad to know that they were the clones after all aka the "original" S+S that we start off with, that we weren't cheated of the main characters, that the story is indeed the clones' story. It was jarring to see Clone with Son though, same age. I wonder if Ohkawa-sensei shed some spoilers to Maaya Sakamoto when Maaya wrote the lyrics for the Tsubasa anime ending 2 "Yunagi Loop."

Either way, I look forward to the conclusion of both mangas. It will really feel like the end of an era to me. At least we can look forward to the Kobato anime!