Not a long review due to the huge amount of stuff happening that could potentially be a spoiler, but I just want to express my feelings for a bit.

This was a great volume, even with the long wait between volumes I can step easily in the world of xxxHolic and immediately know what happened in the previous volumes.
In this one we finally find out what is going on with Watanuki and the world he is in. We find out what choice he has to make and there are several other things happening that make me wonder. Who is calling Watanuki and who calls him by his first name? There are a few candidates, though I can't remember if any of them ever spoke to Watanuki and used his first name. I can't wait to find out.

It was really good to still see Yuuko, though I guess by the next book we won't see her any more. And this makes me sad. Yuuko is a fantastic character and I really like her. I like how she is, at times wise, but at other times just a big kid.

Doumeki and Himawari are still good characters, though I am getting a bit tired of the Doumeki x Watanuki shtick they have going on. I know I was also getting bored of it in the first series. It was just annoying, I know that they don't hate each other, but it does feel this way with how they act. How Watanuki acts around Doumeki.

The art is once again gorgeous and I really love seeing all the details that are present. There is a lot of symbolism and a lot of hints for the story.

I can't wait for the next volume, especially since I really want to see Syaoran again!

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

Not a super long review due to the amount of spoilers it might give. And I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

This was a wonderful volume again, too bad it takes ages for it to come out and I need to either re-read the previous volume or read my review for said volume.
The story picks up where we left the previous time, with Watanuki tending to Yuuko's needs (and my oh my is she still needy). I loved their interaction (one of the best things from XXXholic is truly the relationship and interaction between Watanuki and Yuuko). Yuuko making a fuss, but also at times being her totally epic self.

However, not everything is as it seems. There are cracks forming in the world. Watanuki knows stuff, we get little hints and certain things are happening that seem to hint to certain things. It is all interesting, at times you read over it, but then read back (because you thought you saw something) and then find out, there was indeed something happening.

The only thing that is kind of weird is how Watanuki acts toward Himawari. Normally we are used to his overly enthusiasticness when she pops up, but in this volume he was quite silent and normal. A bit odd, but maybe has to do with the whole truth about Watanuki and why everything seems "normal".

The art is (as expected) gorgeous again. I love the little details that are in every page.

However one thing, and I believe I also had the problem with the previous volume, is that sometimes quite a chunk of text is eaten by the book. You really have to bend the book (the horror!) to be able to read it at times. I really hate this. I would hope that publishers/printers would know that people need to be able to read text. Look at Vertical, really the first one who keeps attention to that by added a big margins, making the book wider, but also makes the text easier to read and you don't have to bend the book (and break the spine).

All in all though I would really recommend this series. I can't wait for the next volume to pop out, and in the mean time I guess I will be reading Drug and Drop Vol.1 which is coming out soon!

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

I am so excited to see this manga to get another series. Though I was also worried, how will it look? What will happen?

I can now honestly say I am a bit confused. We seem to be back in the time before a lot of things happened (not going to spoil what). But if you read the ending of the previous manga, you will know what I am talking about.

The whole cast is back again, Yuuko-san (yippppeee, I missed her so much), Watanuki, Doumeki, Himawari, the twins. It was so much fun to see everyone, to see Watanuki and Doumeki act like a married couple again, to see new mysteries.

Though I want to know, what happened? Is this a dream? A wish come true? A parallel universe? There are some hints thrown through the book that seem to hint that something bigger is behind this. There are little things Watanuki does that seem odd, things Yuuko-san says that seem to point to something and then the ending of this volume. All I can say, I would love to know what happened, and knowing CLAMP they will tell us eventually when they want to. :) I hope for some nice crossovers with other CLAMP manga, that would make it even more perfect.

All in all, I am very excited that this series is back, now only to wait until November for the next volume! (is it already November? Aww please?)

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

Liezel reviews xxxHoLic, the manga.