Obsessions

I'm the kind of person who gets obsessed with things easily. My first big obsession was with Pokemon when it first became popular here in the mid '90s.  I bought a Gameboy Color in order to play Red/Blue/Yellow, I would wake up early to watch the tv show before school, and I would use my weekly allowance to buy plastic figurines or trading cards.  Later on, when I was in middle school, Disney's Treasure Planet became the object of my obsessions, and I went way over the top with that one.  I ended up watching the movie just about every day, sometimes multiple times each day.  It was actually kind of scary just how into this movie I was.  I loved the main character, Jim Hawkins, I loved the mysterious and lovable cyborg villain, Silver, and I loved everything else about the movie: the soundtrack, the witty dialogue, the artwork, etc.  I was so hooked and obsessed that I led myself to believe that the planets from the movie were out there somewhere, that the characters were real, and that someday I would travel out into space to have epic adventures with Jim Hawkins and the rest of the characters (I even started writing a fanfic but, thankfully, never finished).

After I finally grew out of my TP phase (and just grew up in general), I still had things that I would become obsessed with, but to a much lesser extent (thankfully for my sanity).  I've gotten hooked on various things, from manga (for anyone who doesn't know, manga is Japanese-style comics) to video games like Kingdom Hearts to single movies, and my current obsession is a manga series called XxxHolic (pronounced as either "X-Holic" or just "Holic") by the female artist group, CLAMP.  Now, you may be thinking that the Xxx stands for something dirty and X-rated, but in actuality they are there as variables or placeholders.  The series is about a high school-age boy named Watanuki Kimihiro (last name then first name, since that's how the Japanese and other Eastern cultures present their names) who has the power to see and attract ghosts and spirits, and in order to get rid of this power he starts working part-time for a woman named Yuuko who has the power to grant wishes as long as she receives proper compensation (everything has a price, a price that must be of equal value to that of the request).  Many of the customers Yuuko deals with have problems of an addictive nature in some form or another, so the "Xxx" is there as sort of asterisks; you replace them with whatever the person is a holic of.  For example, one woman is so addicted to the internet that she starts neglecting her husband and son, not taking care of housework or spending time with her young child; her wish is to be able to stop using the computer.

Although this "shop" of wish-granting is the basic plot point for the series, there is much more to it than that.  Yuuko is a driving force of the series and a great character, but our main protagonist is Watanuki.  He interacts with two key characters in particular: a girl named Kunogi Himawari, who is his high school crush, and Doumeki Shizuka, who he can't stand for some reason.  Yuuko drops mysterious hints about Himawari, saying that she isn't Watanuki's good luck charm even though he gets all happy and lovey-dovey when he sees her, and tells Watanuki that he is fated to develop a close bond with Doumeki (much to his annoyance).  As the series goes on, Watanuki is able to grow and change, learning about how he is connected to others and the importance of  the actions of both people in a relationship, not just one.  He lost his parents at a young age, and often he subconsciously feels that he should also no longer be in the world, but is eventually able to realize that there are many people in the world who have changed by meeting him, and definitely don't want to lose him.

The series is one of CLAMP's more recent works, starting in 2003 and "ending" only recently (CLAMP still classifies X-Holic as "ongoing", but it seems to have reached a definite conclusion).  It is also one of the most popular, as it is rather unique by integrating comedy with horror (since Watanuki sees and attracts spirits, he often has to deal with scary ghosts and places).  XxxHolic is a crossover with Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, meaning that occasionally the characters from both mangas briefly interact with one another, or events from one series is alluded to in the other.  Tsubasa (as it is shortened to) is in itself a crossover of sorts, as it features many characters from past CLAMP works (the main characters are alternate universe versions of those from Cardcaptor Sakura).  I've only read a few of CLAMP's series; my favorite when I was younger was Cardcaptor Sakura for its innocence and romance, but I've also read Chobits, which was too perverted for my liking.  Their post-2000 work seems to be much better though, and I really enjoy TRC and X-Holic.  The story is deep and serious while still keeping a humorous and lighthearted tone when needed, and the characters' personalities and relationships with one another really flesh out and blend with one another very well.  The only concern I had was with the manga's ending; it was rather abrupt and even really depressing.  However, CLAMP recently released an OVA (orignal video animation) that gives more information on the events towards the end of the series, and gives much better closure.  By reading and sharing my thoughts on mangafox's wonderful forums, I was able to come to terms with the ending and realize that bittersweet endings can be better than ones where everyone ends up happy, like in a fairy tale.  It's more realistic to have some pain and sadness mixed in with happiness and contentment, which, in my opinion, makes for a much better and more mature story.  Sure, this manga isn't something that I would consider extraordinarily profound, but I think it's very enjoyable for medium-level entertainment (of course, it turned me into an obsessive fangirl for about a week or two, but that's just me, the easily obsessed).

The anime is also very good, but sometimes they have animation problems such as making the body proportions ridiculously long and thin, or problems with motion such as unrealistic/unnatural movements when running or walking.  The main anime doesn't include crossover information from TRC, but the OVAs do, so that can be confusing.  The anime stays true to the events of the manga, but it scrambles up the order for some reason, and it can be hard to follow if you both read the manga and watch the anime at the same time (so read before you watch).  But, as usual with anime, it gives more feeling to the series since there are actual voice actors and moving visuals, and I'm impressed that the English dub isn't a complete abomination (only one of the English voice actors makes my ears bleed, and that's much more than I can say for most English dubs).  All in all, XxxHolic (and TRC) is a great series, and is good for anyone who wants a happy medium between the poles of all romance and all action.

Wiki page for XxxHolic here