CLAMP, xxxHolic vol. 5 (Del Rey, 2005)

There's something about the fifth volume of xxxHolic that seems to encourage lawlessness. My library's copies walked off, so I had to get it Interlibrary Loan, and the copy I received had a few pages that had been expertly sliced out. Go figure. CLAMP really seem to have gotten into this one in the past few episodes, as they follow up the twin-sister episode with some real crackers here. All the wackniess of the Valentine's Day hijinks in volume 4 come back to haunt Watanuki in spades (what does one give a girl who doesn't really exist on White Day?), while the episodic stories continue on as strong as they were in the last volume. Series is starting to get good. ***

I started buying Manga for my classroom. My students are mainly Korean, Chinese and Japanese so it made sense for me to encourage them to learn to read English in something they loved and enjoyed. But I didn't know where to start! Kids help me with their opinions but I haven't liked much of the Manga out there. Then the Amazon Vine program sent me a DVD of XXXHolic for review. I liked it and have become addicted to the books. Clamp is great and I really like their women orieted stories. It's still classic Manga but there is a sophistication to it that a lot of Manga doesn't have. I like it! I read it! So the girls in my class.

Okay...Clamp rules.Their art is spectacular and their stories are brilliant. This series ties in with the Tsubasa series and is a bit more complex than any of their prior works. It's no light read but is still a great book.

this is a great manga and i really enjoyed this volume. the anime is about to be realeased in Japan so i can't wait to start watching too!

Just got my issue of xxxHolic #5 in the mail and all I can say is "Wow!". Not only do we get more well written stand alone supernatural stories with subtle character developments, we are also treated to a HUGE leap forward in the xxxHolic story with the biggest suprise this series has revealded and I never would have guessed: There's a bad guy!

What started out as the usual strange ghost/monster/spirit storyline turned into something much larger (maybe global?) that is literally eating people's souls and what's more, we see Yuko take a stand and use her powers to fight what the villian is doing and add extra meaning to all those butterflies we see in all the previous xxxHolic pictures (go ahead, have a look! No we know what they are... kind of).

There's also a subtle piece of info regarding the black Mokona (he has two stomaches!) and a crossover with CLAMP's other new work Legal Drug #2 as well as lots of talk and some mailing of a gift to the Tsubasa team and some Valentine's Day vengeance!

Great art. Suprising story. Buy it now. Seriously. This series rocks!