Les mots sont des pièges : une fois sortis de la bouche, on ne peut plus les reprendre. Pour l’être humain, ils peuvent être une prison ou une libération selon l’usage que l’on en fait. C’est ce que Yûko, la facétieuse sorcière des dimensions va apprendre à son homme à tout faire, Watanuki...
CLAMP originally began in 1989 as a twelve-member dōjinshi circle, but by 1990, the circle had diminished from twelve to seven. Of the remaining seven, Tamayo Akiyama, Sei Nanao, and Leeza Sei left the group during the production of the RG Veda manga. Other former members of CLAMP also included Soushi Hishika, O-Kyon, Kazue Nakamori, Yuzuru Inoue and Shinya Ōmi. Currently, there are four members in the group.
In 2004, CLAMP's 15th anniversary as a mangaka group, the members changed their names from Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Mick Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi to Ageha Ohkawa, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki Igarashi (her name is pronounced the same, but written with different characters) respectively. The August 2004 issue of Newtype USA, a magazine specializing in events of the anime and manga subcultures, reported that the members of CLAMP simply wanted to try out new names. In a later interview with Ohkawa, it was revealed that initially Mokona wanted to drop her surname because it sounded too immature for her liking, while Nekoi disliked people commenting that her name was the same as Mick Jagger's. Ohkawa and Igarashi, wanting to go with the flow of Nekoi's and Mokona's name changes, changed their names as well.
In 2006, they made their first USA public debut at Anime Expo in Anaheim, California. They were well received at the convention, with 6,000 fans in attendance at their panel.
The art quality remains consistent in this volume.
The reason it has one less star is that the final story in the book seemed out of place. It didn't really connect with the main narrative and served no purpose to the overall story.
Que lindo tomo 💖 cuántos mensajes que deja si uno le permite entrar en su vida y darle un vistazo. Este manga tiene mucho de eso. Me puedo quejar de que no se avanza mucho en la historia en si o que no llegamos a conocer mucho de los personajes aún pero cada historia que cuenta tiene un mensaje que queda en nosotros.
Por ahora, es el tomo que más me gustó. 🥺 Y aún queda mucho poder delante!
A good continuation of the story, although I didn't enjoy the subplots of this as much as the last two.
Del Rey apparently dropped the ball on this volume, though, because throughout the entire book the art is horribly pixelated. I myself obsessing a bit over all of the jagged edges.
Pasó muchísimo tiempo desde que leí el tercer volumen y es que la verdad este manga sigue sin encantarme. Aunque me gusta mucho el trabajo de las CLAMP, lo cierto es que esta obra como tal la siento demasiado lenta y solo he continuado con ella porque Tsubasa y xxxHolic convergen en algún punto. De hecho, hay capítulos donde se mencionan el uno al otro y sé que la presencia de Watanuki es importante para ambas historias.
Sin embargo, en estos capítulos no se nos presenta nada tan relevante aún. Es decir, se reafirma la presencia de fantasmas y criaturas sobrenaturales en el mundo de Yuuko, pero tampoco es que me sorprenda de alguna manera.
Creo que lo que me gusta de la Bruja de las Dimensiones es que un personaje complejo, lleno de matices pues a veces pareciera una chiquilla caprichosa y otras es más bien alguien lleno de misterio. Poco a poco va dándole lecciones de vida a Watanuki: por ejemplo, aquí somos conscientes del poder de las palabras y cómo estas pueden afectar de buena o mala manera a quien las pronuncia como si fuesen decretos.
Pero siendo honestos, sigo sin saber si es buena o mala idea seguir coleccionando la serie. Quiero continuarla, sí, pero no con urgencia.
Me encanto este tomo, sobre todo la historia que nos cuenta de las gemelas y de las ataduras de las palabras. El concepto que da de que nosotros mismo nos atamos con lo que decimos me gusto muchísimo y el penúltima mini historia de un Watanaki mas joven haciéndose de su primer amigo que es el espíritu de un niño me encanto. Tengo mucha intriga con lo que lei y vi en la ultima histotia espero leer el próximo tomo y averiguarlo. 100% recomendado
xxxHolic is not the type of manga that I would usually pick up - somehow, stories about stores with special services have never really caught my interests. As it happens to be a CLAMP manga which is heavily interwoven with Tsubasa and also has ties to Blood C, I knew I'd at the very least have to give it a chance. The good thing is, apart from the ending, it's a pretty neat manga series.
Watanuki has always attracted ghosts and spirits and he wishes they would just go away. Fate leads him to Yuko's wish-granting shop, but wishes don't come for free. In order for Watanuki's wish to be granted, he must work in the store and becomes involved in all manners of the supernatural.
The art is easily recognisable as CLAMP's, yet it is different. Everything is in black and whites with no greyscales and the characters' eyes are rather empty looking, even the covers are anything but vibrant. But this is actually very well suited for the atmosphere of this series. I only wish that, similar to Tsubasa, the characters' limbs weren't so unnaturally long.
What I first thought to be a rather bland set of characters soon turned out to be a much deeper and very likeable bunch. It's odd, I was against every character from the start and I can't even put my finger on when it changed, but I ended up loving them all. I must confess, I preferred the first three-quarters of the story more - Watanuki becomes a more serious character after certain events and I just prefered him the way he was before. That being said, I can understand how and why he changed.
Although there is an underlying story that is interlaced with Tsubasa, the rest of the series is very much episodic. The different episodes all revolve around legends and myths and it's very interesting to read about them. Not only are the origins explained, but given the modern setting of this series, they are always shown with a contemporary sample. I am only guessing here, but I feel as though having visited Japan and recognising various elements increased my enjoyment of this series as it really is very heavy on Japanese-lore. This holds particularly true about the Jorougumo chapters - there's just something very unsettling about these joro spiders.
The story can be a little slow at times but it generally has good pacing. It's a nice balance between humour, horror and a bit of moral lecturing - in a good way. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the ending isn't exactly satisfying. In fact, it's not that much of an ending at all; would I not know that this series is complete with 19 volumes, I'd think there is more to come. Thanks to its episodic nature, this series can in a sense conclude at any time it wants to. Yet the underlying story is left hanging in the air and there's nothing in terms of closure. CLAMP has started a sequel (which is one of their many works on hiatus - surprise!) which may or may not remedy this issue at some point, but for that, one will need to wait for the sequel to conclude. Otherwise, there are a few glimpses of Watanuki in Blood C which I feel not that many people know of - have a look if you care to see more of what happened to Watanuki post xxxHolic!
A better volume than the previous two as it’s not held back by its vague references to other Clamp series which so far haven’t added much substance to the overall narrative. They honestly acted as more of an unnecessary distraction if nothing else. This volume balances romantic comedy with ghostly melodrama while adding more depth to the blossoming friendship/rivalry between Watanuki and Domeki.
Valentine’s day has arrived and not everything is sugary sweet. Dates are interrupted. Love confessions go unrequited. Twin sisters are binded by harsh words that are haunting them in unusual ways. Can Watanuki guide these troubled souls to happiness?
I liked how volume four introduced two interesting concepts. The first one being the psychological effects that words can subconsciously have on an individual’s every action. I also liked how it went into further detail about how Watanuki’s ability to see spirits affected his life growing up. I hope the series continues to build on the more emotional and philosophical elements of the story like this volume did.
Even when the story has its hiccups, I always enjoy seeing Yuuko. Her gothic witch design paired with her sassy alcoholic goofball personality always makes every scene with her a lot of fun.
Cerita-cerita di volume 4 ini tergolong ringan. Baguslah. Volume 3 tuh traumatis banget soalnya.
Ada cerita Watanuki yang ditaksir zasshiki warashi. Si zasshiki pingin ngasih cokelat valentine. Dan cokelatnya dia ambil dari perut Doumeki. What the?! Doumeki langsung pingsan kehilangan jiwanya. Tapi penyelesaiannya ringan, kok. Si zasshiki bukan roh jahat.
Lalu ada cerita panjang yang sangat powerful tentang kekuatan kata. Kata-kata positif dan optimistis akan membuat orang yang mendengarnya jadi cheer up. Sebaliknya kata-kata negatif dan pesimistis. Dan Watanuki belajar semua itu dari kisah dua gadis kembar identik yang sama-sama menyukai Doumeki.
Lalu ada cerita menyentuh tentang Watanuki yang berteman dengan anak lelaki yang ternyata hantu. Sebelum menghilang, anak itu memberikan Watanuki tulangnya dan tulang itu pernah menyelamatkan Watanuki dari serangan roh jahat.
Sedangkan cerita terakhirnya aneh. Lebih ke kayak troll-nya CLAMP sih menurutku. Watanuki melihat tangan-tangan tanpa tubuh bertebaran di seluruh kota. Malah ada tangan yang bisa menelan apa saja yang jatuh ke telapaknya. Apaan sih?
Watanuki has to make Valentine’s Day chocolatey thing (chocolate/Valentine’s Day combo is a big deal in Japan, in case you didn’t know) for Yûko, and he is wonderfully mad at her about it. The very last chocolate fondant is for Himawari! But she’s sick! On Valentine’s Day, of all days! And then Dômeki casually strolls by and eats it. I agree with Watanuki, this kind of sucks. But maybe, just maybe, it doesn’t deserve the drama he makes about it? Teenagers… :)))
But then Dômeki is in big big (supernatural) trouble, and Watanuki feels he has to help. There is a short, exciting adventure, and it all ends well. Phew. (You guys are such great frenemies.)
Watanuki keeps making delicious lunches for Dômeki in this volume as well. Is this going to be a thing? (Not that I mind great food.)
The story with the twin sisters and words as bonds was very nice and touching, but not very interesting. It didn’t add much. The last few pages featuring the ghost hand were creepy, though...
Watanuki continues his education in the other worldly when his Valentine’s Day takes a decidedly supernatural turn. Afterwards, he meets a pair of twins who show Doumeki and himself just how powerful words can be. This wouldn’t be Watanuki’s story is something unearthly didn’t try to eat him…which it does. There are, however, friendly spirits, too. One Watanuki finds himself recalling, who saved him from the monsters and his own loneliness when he was a child. Yuuko continues to guide Watanuki through his various experiences (wearing some truly spectacular outfits such as the one with the butterfly cuffs, bodice and choker) while he continues to serve her. Yuuko is always willing to help get Watanuki and Doumeki out of trouble…for a price.
For continuing this magical journey through tales with a very human heart, viewed and experienced by compelling characters, all depicted with a willowy sensuality which often brings to mind Erte, I give this four stars.
I love the quote from Yûko: "Where is the problem in adopting a custom that is 'abnormal' if it has no negative effect on the world at large?" In many cultures, customs often expect certain genders to carry out specific tasks or roles. Breaking from those traditions have commonly been viewed as taboo. But I agree that anyone can be involved if it doesn't hurt others.
I also like the quote: "words have life". Energy and power can be drawn from words. They can manifest their intentions on ourselves and others when spoken out loud. When we internalise the meanings behind words they can effect us physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. This can happen with positive and negative vibes.
xxxHolic volume 4 finds Watanuki and Domeki pulled in to an other wordly relationship with twins and Yuko teaches Watanuki that words have life. Words we say not only effect those around us, but can cripple ourselves. Only by their intervention can they change the lives of these twins.
Volume 4 also brings us a few more yokai sighting of a shy Zashiki- Warashi and the Karasu Tengu's that guard her and her soft heart from those who may make her cry.
As always the stories in this series are fresh and interesting, combining the best of Japanese traditions and myths. Worth every single star.
This was mostly a Valentines Day (and White Day) themed issue, with Watanuki lamenting his lack of Valentines attention while Domeki is showered in gifts and chocolates. Meanwhile Watanuki is stuck making chocolates for Yuko to give away. Of course, spirits of various sorts become involved.
This then leads into an adventure involving a pair of twin sisters with a strange and possibly toxic connection, before finally setting up the stage for the next issue and filling in some backstory.
The setup for future issues felt more important here than any of the Valentines mishaps, so this felt like something of a transitional volume.
The art is still beautiful and bold, just like in previous volumes. I really liked the small subplots in this volume. I thought the subplot where Watanuki . I just thought it was really nice to gain some additional character development and insight into his past. It's been a very long time since I've read any of Tsubasa, but I think this volume really reminded me this is technically a crossover manga. While you don't have to be familiar with Tsubasa, it does help the overall enjoyment experience, in my opinion.
Ada yang menarik dari volume ini. Kita bisa saja mendapat sebuah "kutukan" atau ikatan yang berbahaya dari sesuatu yang amat dimiliki manusia: kata-kata. Kita bisa merasa "aku tidak bisa" dan segala hal negatif lainnya (diwujudkan dengan kata-kata) lalu tanpa sadar menjadikan hal itu nyata. Uniknya, cara Yuko meminta bayaran dengan meminta sesuatu yang kentara dari orang itu. Kupikir, ini seperti Armin jika tak salah kuingat: kita harus rela kehilangan sesuatu untuk meraih sesuatu. Yuko mengambil hal itu untuk membuat perubahan bagi orang lain.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Romance is in the air as Watanuki busies himself making Valentine's and White Day goodies for Yuko and Himawari - but between Domeki's soul being stolen and a mysterious pair of twins giving off odd waves only he can see, the holidays seem even more unpredictable than usual...CLAMP offers another selection of enjoyably strange incidents, as humourous and heartfelt as ever with every page. How is Watanuki ever going to get his feelings across with so many supernatural variables - and Domeki - in the way?!
Ce quatrième tome m’a beaucoup plu. Peut-être parce que je trouve le récit bien ficelé. Ce n’est pas un événement qui arrive comme un cheveu sur la soupe et qui est torché. CLAMP prend le temps de poser le décor et c’est plaisant. J’étais totalement imprégnée dans le récit. On a l’histoire de bout en bout. Ça ne prend pas toute la place puisqu’on a quand même droit à des tranches de vie des protagonistes. J’ai adoré ce quatrième tome qui relance mon intérêt pour cette saga. https://psylook.kimengumi.fr/2025/07/...
(01/08/2021) I remember the Zashiki Warashi! And the twins! I did not remember the short about the little boy tho.
Ah I really liked this volume. We continue on these fun, episodic adventures. The twins arc is the better one this volume, tho. The message and magic in it is really cool. I felt that as person who's been depressed. Negative words weigh you down.
I also enjoy the gag that Himawari never hand makes anything. XD
Este tomito estuvo bastante pasajero, se fortalece la relación entre los chicos y todo gira en torno a un ambiente algo macabro con el tema de las gemelas y el poder de las palabras. Al final deja un mensaje fuerte sobre el poder que ejerce lo que decimos en nosotros o en las personas que nos rodean.
El ultimo capitulo estuvo especialmente extraño con el tema de las manos, no creo haber entendido muy bien porque se trato el tema, supongo que más adelante lo sabremos.
In this volume I enjoyed the story with the twins. It had a happy ending so it was nice. It's true that words can bind us and sometimes we have to break these chains if we want to change. We need to discover ourselves and find who we really are.
I also loved the chocolate exchange with the tsubasa universe ^^ Yuuko keeps tricking people to get gifts. She's the real fox here. And somehow our guy has to pay her back for favors he didn't ask for. It's hilarious.
This volume contains several stories: the first is about Valentine's Day and the Japanese custom of girls giving homemade chocolate to those they like. The second story is a multi chapter story about how powerful words are. The last two stories are ghost stories that remind us that Watanuki can't tell the difference between humans and others.
Ce que j’adore avec cette œuvre c’est bien sûr les personnages qui sont tous incroyables: très charismatiques, atypiques et intéressants. Yûko une icône de la mode vraiment, je l’aime. Mais aussi ce côté un peu morale et sensibilisateur sur la nature humaine. Les problématiques que les êtres humains peuvent rencontrer. C’est toujours très bien amené. Lisez Clamp svp.
What I love most about this volume is about the story that really presses on the importance of words. The things you speak, will gain its own shape and create a reality. It wouldn’t simply remain as “words”, hence it is very important for one to watch what they are saying/will be saying — for if it is negative, then it shall also bring a negative impact, and vice versa.
"Lenguaje", eso es. Una vez que sale de tu boca es imparable, no puede ser anulado. La gente no comprende lo fuertemente atada que esta a el, pero ellos siguen utilizando esa restricción. El lenguaje es algo vivo y a veces puede atar completamente la vida de una persona.
Ah si, día de san Valentín… me encantan los capítulos que tienen que ver con esas fechas.
Watanuki y Doumeki, Doumeki y Watanuki… CLAMP DEJA DE DARME RAZONES PARA SHIPPEAR. Ese enemigos que se odian pero al mismo tiempo son amigos que se cuidan me dan vida xd