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xxxHoLic

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Description

Kimihiro Watanuki is haunted by visions of ghosts and spirits. He seeks help from a mysterious woman named Yuko, who claims she can help. However, Watanuki must work for Yuko in order to pay for her aid. Soon Watanuki finds himself employed in Yuko's shop where he sees things and meets customers that are stranger than anything he could have ever imagined.

Official English Release: Kodansha

Type

Manga

Related Series

xxxHoLic: Another Holic Randoruto-kan Aerosol (Novel) (Side Story)

Drug & Drop (Alternate Version)

xxxHoLic Rei (Sequel)

Tsubasa - Reservoir Chronicle (Alternate Version)

Associated Names

Holic

xxx โฮลิค

XXX ホリック

xxxHolic Rou

xxxHolic Rō

×××HOLiC

×××HOLiC・籠

Триплексоголик

Groups Scanlating

Be With You Scans

Believe Manga Scans

Latest Release(s)

v.15 c.4 by Be With You Scans 13 years ago

v.19 c.213 (end) by Fail Manga 14 years ago

c.212 by Fail Manga 14 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

19 Volumes (Complete)
19 Volumes - CLAMP Premium Collection (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1

Ends at Vol 11, Chap 129 (S2)

User Reviews

xxxHOLIC by Coriolis

xxxHolic by danobou

Forum

31 topics, 243 posts

Click here to view the forum

User Rating

Average: 8.6 / 10.0 (1625 votes)

Bayesian Average: 8.56 / 10.0

10

34%

9+

25%

8+

22%

7+

11%

6+

4%

5+

1%

4+

1%

3+

1%

2+

1%

1+

1%

Last Updated

March 30th, 2025 1:21pm PDT - 1 month ago

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Series Image

Genre

Comedy Drama Fantasy Mystery Psychological School Life Seinen Slice of Life Supernatural
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Bakemono no Yawazukushi

Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect (Novel)

Jigoku Kurayami Hana mo Naki

The Snake's Bride

Recommendations

Tsubasa - Reservoir Chronicle

Vampire Juujikai

Pet Shop of Horrors

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Kodansha (2003, 2013)

Serialized In (magazine)

Young Magazine (Kodansha)

Bessatsu Shounen Magazine (Kodansha)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Del Rey (Defunct / 19 Vols - Complete)

Kodansha USA (7 Vols - Complete Omnibus Ed.)

Tanoshimi (Defunct / 9 Vols)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #782

(+7)

Monthly Pos #1262

(-166)

3 Month Pos #1909

(-510)

6 Month Pos #3028

(+39)

Year Pos #3218

(+233)

List Stats

On 3163 reading lists

On 1522 wish lists

On 2723 completed lists

On 293 unfinished lists

On 652 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

xxxHOLiC Gets Live-Action Film Next April

3 years ago

So the ending...

12 years ago

Name of the childhood friend?

12 years ago

xxxHolic ONESHOT ft TRC

13 years ago

14 years ago

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User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

To clarify the ending

by AniNyan
11 years ago

Rating: 9.7 / 10.0

To clarify the ending:

By the last chapter, Watanuki had been in possession of the shop for four generations, which is why he tells the Doumeki look-alike (his first name is not revealed) that he looks so much like his great-grandfather (Doumeki Shizuka, whom Watanuki spent most of his time with throughout most of the series), who also greatly resembled his grandfather (Doumeki Haruka). The current Doumeki at the end (first name unknown) is in possession of the egg, which is implied to have been passed down within the family, because Doumeki Shizuka's decision was to have the Doumeki family use the egg to make Watanuki forget about Yuuko when Watanuki wants to and is ready to forget about her.

It was confusing the way they made Doumeki Shizuka's descendant look so much like him at the end, but that's more or less how it ended. I do agree that the ending was disappointing, as it seems as though Watanuki will never meet Yuuko again and will continue to wait for her alone, regardless of how much longer he will have to wait, but overall, the characters were extremely lovable and this series will always be one of my favorites, even though I've probably shed more tears than I should have over a single series that isn't even officially categorized a tragedy.

It's true that in the beginning, the story seems to have no plot and is filled with lighthearted comedy as the characters interact with each other, but towards the middle and end, it is clear that the story is going in a particular direction and a stable plot begins to build on that. Of course, the artist is CLAMP, so there's pretty much no such thing as proper anatomy, but I've grown up reading CLAMP's works, so I have no issue with it.

I do not recommend this series to those who dislike stories that do not begin with a particularly serious plot or those who are strongly against possible romantic feelings between two males (it is never officially stated, but there is a lot of implied romantic notions between Watanuki and Doumeki, and CLAMP has completed a few shounen-ai series, so that's not entirely impossible). I do highly recommend this to anyone else who likes supernatural stories that evoke various different emotions and can grow to just adore the characters.

On another note, xxxHolic Rei was disappointing in the sense that it ended up being an alternate story (as it is labeled) instead of a continuation/sequel to xxxHolic. I would have loved to see a happy ending for Watanuki.

... Last updated 11 years ago

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No Plot

by TisiphoneStar
12 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

I remember reading xxxholic years ago and even as I try to remember the story now it's very fuzzy in my mind. I feel like the problem with xxxholic is that there is no real plot, it's very character development oriented and very slice of life. There's episodic plot arcs but none of them are actually interesting, just slow. It's very much like Clamp's other works 'Legal Drug' and 'Tokyo Babylon' but the characters are less amusing and there's no hints at an overarching mystery. I always felt like the lack of a real plot would be alright if at least there was chemistry in the cast but there isn't...the only redeeming character is Yuuko, who is just amazing - too bad the actual story is slow and lacking of a point.

... Last updated 12 years ago

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I give fair warning..

by jjkyxr
12 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

..do NOT read this until you read the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle series. I'm sure the author wants you to read them both simultaneously as it seems like it was intended. but the more practical method would probably be to read TRC first. If you decide to be like me and read xxxHolic first, what happens is that eventually the story throws at you characters that pop out of another universe and then expects you to care for these cameos. honestly, it just makes me more confused and upset at the author for having our main cast getting personal with these random folks w/o establishing clear connections with the reader. and to top it off, the main characters' backstories that seem to be developed in TRC never really get explained in xxxHolic as a standalone.

this slow pace of a story feels very episodic most of the time. probably because most of the characters feel very 1 dimensional. when character development does happen, it's infrequent and in noticeable jumps. not very smoothed out but some would disagree probably. also the main character constantly whines a bit too frequently for quite awhile, way past it being anything remotely funny. enough that i wanted to drop the series a couple of times.

tl;dr read TRC first before picking this up. also this story is very meh as a standalone.

... Last updated 12 years ago

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+++

by LUEser
12 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

xxxHOLiC was a pretty good read, in my opinion. It has great loveable characters, all who grew up together yet all went their separate ways. Honestly, I would've never guessed that

Watanuki would've wanted to inherit the shop as Yuko passed away . Still Doumeki eventually led a pretty normal life and so did Himawari and Kohane.

The art is simple, yet graceful and appealing. The humor in this manga is light-hearted and it gives you something to think about when it comes to real life situation, about humans and spirits in general. This manga's got its heartbreaking moments and have it's shocking moments. The ending is definitely a cliff hanger; why bring up the egg if CLAMP didn't plan to add anymore to it?

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idk why

by reiyka
12 years ago

Rating: N/A

i don't know why, but somehow, i just think that watanuki resemble a lot of clow reed side.
the colour of his hair, his eyes, the shape of his eye, his body, and he likes to wear chinesse clothes and of course he wears the same glasses like clow!!
it's just make me think like he is clow reed.

i remember that clow reed used to love yuko, right? (i once read it in tsubasa reservoir, don't remember which chapter is it)
and yeah, it's just like plops if watanuki is the clow reed.

clamp make it so misterius but i really want to know if watanuki can meet yuko again. is he loves her or not? aaargh~

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Love it

by Hikaruchi
13 years ago

Rating: N/A

Ah... Like usual.. I love CLAMP works..
I hope this manga going to continued soon..
By the way, I don't know if this manga related to Blood-C..
I thought it's just related with Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle..

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Top-notch

by sakirol
13 years ago

Rating: 8.5 / 10.0

There are very few series that give you a fresh feeling when you read it. Most manga - yeah, there are different settings and whatnot, but deconstructed, they're essentially repeats of the same old things with maybe one or two new twists.

xxxHolic is one of those few series. It takes on the Natsume Yuujinchou sort of story, but rips out 50% of that serene feeling, adds in 50% more shounen with a touch of Clamp's original comedic quirk, and takes away enough of the horror from these supernatural stories to not feel dreadful but still be enigmatic. If I had to describe it, it is Natsume Yuujinchou but sped up 2x, more heartwrenching than heartwarming, and has kickass characters.

I will give one warning. It is not action-packed, not immensely exciting. You have the other twin to the pair, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, for that. To enjoy this, you have to appreciate the time & dialogue spent on character relationships. It's all about character development. And Clamp has genius character designs for xxxHolic, so it's not a bad way to go at all.

I have to say that the anime is a so-so experience in comparison because it doesn't deal with character relationships as well.

The one complaint I have about this series is that they did one hell of a job screwing up loose ends and making it dependent on reading TRC for the climax.

It was a really dumb idea to conclude Himawari's story by marrying her to a stranger. Have her pass away or marry her to Doumeki! That was not a satisfactory way to end a lead support character's part.
It was a really bad idea to include the stone, but it was a worse idea to conclude the stone by saying "it's not time to use it yet". The stone appeared to be something to make Watanuki forget everything about Yuuko. That's just counterproductive. Doumeki should've presented the stone as a choice and have Watanuki decisively make a decision on that.
I did not enjoy the fact that the central plot was disregarded. the audience had to guess most of it and read through TRC to get hints of what was happening. Not enough was explained. Everything should've just came out. Simply reading xxxHolic, people wouldn't even understand why Watanuki was starting to lose his memories. It was just a huge mess.

That being said, the denouement following

Yuko's death was great. I loved it to bits with the exception of the screwed up loose ends.

tl;dr The main, central plot that connects xxxHolic to TRC is a huge, abominable mess, but this series is good enough to earn a good rating despite that.

... Last updated 13 years ago

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Amazing

by reachingforyou96
13 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

I love this manga. Though, I did read the ending and didn't realize that was the last chapter :'(
Yuuko is awesome and the art (CLAMP of course) is amazing. With all the detail, the art was perfect. The story is amazing, I admit, i would have to reread a couple times to understand the meaning and yuuko's sayings. I would watch the anime and feel like I'm in another world or something. Supernaturally awesome!..ah that was kinda lame.
But anyways, This was one of my favorite mangas and I would recommend it to anyone who are deep thinkers or are interested in the supernatural 😀 or just anyone in general

... Last updated 13 years ago

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Overwhelming

by blackmokona
13 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Gush the art, the characters, the development, the ideas, the atmosphere, the style, the feelings. Where to begin? I think when you get overwhelmed and at a loss for words is when you know it's something special.

For me, xXxHoLic is immersed in details and the joy of reading it is in the rereads and the rediscoveries. Like how Watanuki's greetings to Himawari changes, in the end his small private smile over the phone expresses much more effectively the depth of their friendship and consequently his growth than wild gesticulations. But it cannot have achieved that without the adolescent phase, so both moments are precious.

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Creative

by Cassiopea
13 years ago

Rating: 8.5 / 10.0

It's a really lovely manga - the art is tranquil, detailed, fluid and elegant. The main character of Yuuko Ichihara is very lilkable, as she is a strong female lead with plenty of enough complexity. The rest of the characters also follow a comprehensive journey and characterizations, and the overall stories that follow are authentic, mysterious and original. You also really get true questions on the daily aspects of life and morality.

And yes, there is a healthy hint of good quality comedy.

It is also recommened to those who enjoy anything paranormal. The first chunk of the series deals with spirits, from the benevolent to the malevolent, ghost stories to real hauntings, and it is quite interesting.

That being said though, the plot does go slightly downhill after a little while. It starts off quite strong, but then some aspects felt...a little watered down, or stretched out, if that makes any sense. First you start with the spiritial side, the human growth, the mystical side, Yuuko dealing with her clients, to parts of the plot that seem to try too hard. It's strange, and hard to explain.

Nevertheless, it is a highly recommended read. For the ending, you will either feel content with it or feel like something is missing/rushed/a little sad (It's up to you on how you will want to feel)

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