I just love the character Watanuki. I feel closer to him than I do Syaoran, and his story just has more meaning to me than someone who wants to save a princess. With each volume I get even closer to him, and I can just tell I'm in for a teary-eyed climax.

For those who say you don't have to read Tsubasa to enjoy xxxHolic, I say make up your own minds about what to read because Tsubasa is also an amazing story. Sure, you have to invest more money for a series where the story takes off 15 volumes in, but it was well worth it. Each and every volume of each series I get hooks me and I read it in one sitting while contemplating it hours afterward. Since you have to wait so long in between releases of xxxHolic anyway, read Tsubasa in the meantime and have a good time!

the plot is good over all but it is complicated and if you don't pay attention you miss stuff.
the characters are funny and the art is magnificent. not only that but the series has more than just fluff.
the stories can be kind of dark and creepy but it brings variety.

btw you dont have to read tsubasa chronincles its easier to just wiki it. i dont read tsubasa cronicles and i get most of it.

i recomend xXxholic to anyone that likes good manga.

The Good:
The Art is Phenominal! of course being Clamp one would expect nothing less. The story is very creative and has many intresting twists and turns that throw the reader off of what is expected so it is never boring.As far as I have read i found this manga to be worth time. The chapters are short but very compelling.

The Bad:
XXX Holic can be hard to follow at times the dialoge is long and irksome at times.I feel that you can go through xxxholic with out reading Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles and still get by on an understanding but it would very hard and tireing.

Overall:
I would recommed this to a hardcore manga fan rather than a mainstream. The manga is more in favor for the dark melocholy feel.The manga itself has many intricate twists and turns that take time to understand and might have to be reread so patience is required for this manga. All though not finished yet i belive the end is near since TRC has ended.

"xxxholic" starts of as a somewhat darkish story about a boy who sees spirits and evolves into a realy interesting read on the fundamental rules of society and existential theories.
The episode-like structure of "clients" visiting the shop and subsequently learning a lesson about life gets tiresome in the middle of the manga, but there is always a twist to the unexpected and the atmosphere is very gripping.
Thus, the whole story stays interesting and as the reader learns more about the main characters the overall feeling becomes darker and more serious.
I dare say this is the best I have read of CLAMP so far and definitely a very good manga that deals with the supernatural (and I normally couldn't care less).
Very enjoyable and not confusing at all, if you think along and read the information given by the translators.

Honestly i was kinda happy/curious when i saw the voting for the best shounen manga and there was this manga mentioned i didnt know -
xxxholic. well now i know why i did not know it. its kinda crappy.
There is no real story as far as i could see in the first 5-10 chapters, but maybe i didnt get it because the dialogues are kinda pointless and hard to follow. I personally dont like the art as well but i have to admit that depending on ones likes and dislikes that few is not objective. Oh and i dont know why this manga should be called shounen either ^^
So all in all this manga was a highly unsatisfying experience for me.

Im having a hard time deciding whether or not to drop this. It is SO confusing without reading Tsubasa, but I dont want ot read Tsubasa sothe story is confusing... Im just going to put it on hold till it ends...

I just love how


This story is just so confusing if you have not read tsubasa though.

I'm reading both xxxHoLic and Tsubasa, and I must say: I think this one is much better. Although, as some people have said, if I didn't read Tsubasa certain scenes would make no sense and detract from the presentation of this series. While I think Tsubasa has a better-developed plot, I find xxxHoLic more entertaining and I feel that reading both series in tandem really enhances the experience of both.

xxxHoLic is good simply for the characters. It’s definitely loaded with episodic people, but I love that. I love any story with unique characters that have “out-there” personalities, and all the main characters are, well, “themselves.”(Hah.) Yuuko makes my Top 5 list of favorite manga characters of all time. Watanuki also amuses me.

While the nutty antics of the characters bring a lot of humor in to this series, its fantasy dimension is nicely done as well. The subjects they use for fantasy (such as fox spirits or ghosts) aren’t very original in themselves, but the way CLAMP puts a new perspective on them in xxxHoLic is fantastic, unique, and very interesting.

Something many critics of the series point out is the weak connection of events throughout the plot. One doesn’t necessarily have to read about an event in a pervious chapter to understand something in a latter one. (There are several situations where you do, but 3 times out of 5, you don’t.) Critics have a point about this making the plot somewhat weak but I rather like this setup. It seems like too many manga and anime these days require you to read/watch continuously through to a T or you will be completely lost, but xxxHoLic allows you to appreciate the good points of the many different scenarios. Don’t care me wrong, I normally prefer continuous series, but in the way xxxHoLic is done, the differences make it better.

... Last updated on April 15th, 2009, 4:13pm

I just want to make a quick comment about the link. Regardless of the fact that it was planned, it does come across as a bit gimmicky. It doesn't really have the same affect on Tsubasa since it feels less like a piece of the plot is missing, but holic could really have succeeded on its own without it, and probably have had stronger pacing and a more involved ending sequence. I'll have to reserve my final comments on the matter until the story finally concludes, but as it is the ending feels as though it's heading in a slightly contrived direction...

Either way, it's still an excellent manga, but I have to agree that the crossover detracts from it, or at least limits its potential.

in response to the person below me, Tsubasa and xxxHOLiC are supposed to be linked. That's how it was intended.

Personally, I like CLAMP's style in some of its older works like Legend of Chyun Huang and Card Captor Sakura. I'm not really clear as to what the story actually is, but I really like this manga.