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Xxxholic: Starter Set | 
| Studio: Funimation Prod
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 39.95
Buy New: CDN$ 31.96
You Save: CDN$ 7.99 (20%)
New (3) from CDN$ 31.96
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 13929
Format: Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.5 x 3.4
MPN: 0
UPC: 704400045400
EAN: 0704400045400
ASIN: B00127R2WE
Release Date: March 25, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Price of wishes April 28, 2008
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have to admit, "xxxHOLIC" sounds like a series about a porn addict, if it sounds like anything at all.
But it's actually the name of a rather quirky, dark little anime series. "xxxHOLiC: First Collection" smoothly introduces the eccentric characters and main plotline of this series, and its story is filled with malevolent specters, magical rings, and lushly drawn animation.
Watanuki can see spirits -- and as the story opens, he is chased and pummeled to the ground by a huge cloud of them. Naturally, this looks rather odd to other people.
But those spirits magically vanish outside a strange house, and Watanuki is drawn inside against his will. The owner of this shop is Yuko, a strange woman who says she can grant wishes... at a price. She predict that Watanuki sees spirits and has been haunted by them all his life, and that his wish is that he would no longer be troubled by them.
Before Watanuki is sure what's happening, Yuko has tricked him into working for her, as the price of his cure. Despite insisting that he won't work for her -- and seeing the terrible effect of spirits leaving him -- he ends up cooking and running errands for her anyway.
In the process, he also sees what she does. A young woman receives a ring from Yuko to fix the stiffness spreading through her hand... but a bad habit is compounding her ailment, and it might kill her if she doesn't learn in time. And a discussion about fortunetellers ends with Yuko taking Watanuki to two of them -- and letting him see that telling the future can be dangerous.
And a Ouija board (called an "angel" here) becomes deadly when Watanuki and a stoic classmate of his, Domeki, go to a school to find out what the smelly haunting is all about. But Watanuki doesn't realize what the truly dangerous influence at this school is -- and the only way of getting rid of it.
For an introductory volume, "xxxHOLiC: First Collection" is a pretty solid story, and an easy introduction into the world of Yuko's shop. Biff, bang, it's done. In the course of about two scenes, Watanuki is immersed in the shop's business, and by the end of the first episode you know it's going to be a very long, strange trip ahead.
CLAMP's artwork is smoothly transferred into a lush, detailed anime style, full of drooping embroidered robes, pipe smoke, and the misty backdrops of a spirit-infested world. There are a few scenes in the first episode that look painfully 2-D in their animation -- particularly when Watanuki is by himself -- but fortunately the animators hit their stride by the second.
Similarly, the stories are a nice blend of mild horror and kooky comedy. On one hand, we have the ominous stories about evil spirits, the sins that corrupt our lives, the terrible wishes people make, and the futures we can choose. But at the same time we have the cuddly bouncing rabbity thing, and Watanuki constantly having his chain yanked by Yuko.
Watanuki is a bit annoying, since he tends to ricochet up and down the emotional scale with the slightest reason. But he's likable in his quieter moments, and Yuko is an enjoyably eccentric, deeply mysterious female lead. And Domeki is a nice counterpoint to Watanuki's melodrama -- he's very stoic, quiet and mildly sarcastic. We don't see enough of that guy.
"xxxHOLiC: First Collection" introduces us to the world of wishes, bad habits and evil spirits, and promises to only get more interesting later on. Definitely worth checking out.
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