Contains spoilers for the series so far - both XXXHOLiC and Tsubasa.

And thus begins xxxHOLiC Rô, the second 'arc' of the holic series. Now that the witch Yuuko has disappeared perhaps never to return, pretty much everything has changed in relation to the wish shop and Watanuki. It's the suddenness in Watanuki's decision to take the burden of shop owner that dropped this volume's star level to 4/5. However, the rest of the volume with its gorgeous art and slow-building storytelling maintains the high level of quality that this manga is known for. It is mainly a Watanuki & Domeki volume, which makes sense as Watanuki can never leave the shop and Domeki is always dropping by.

We also see glimpses into the TSUBASA world, and for those reading both series we can clearly see that xxxHOLiC Rô takes place after the events of TSUBASA's final volume. One has to wonder if the two will soon crossover again like it did in the very first volume where Yuuko met Syaoran and Sakura. Now that Watanuk is shop keeper, will it fall upon him to guide some other waylaid travelers across the multiverse?

All in all, this is a very solid volume of holic manga; the only downer is that the end is so very very close! Three volumes to go after this: will Watanuki's wish to see Yuuko again come true? ( )

Watanuki takes over Yuko's shop, and even though things seem to be much the same on the surface there's an underlying tension. Domeki's attitude has changed subtly, even though he's still kind of a jerk, and he seems to be overly concerned for Watanuki. Plus he is clearly again while Watanuki remains the same, which makes me think that time is going a little loopy between the borders of the shop and real life. Or maybe Domeki is just again as a consequenceof his worry and sense and responsibility over the situation that they're in? The storyline seems to be drifting apart right now, rather than typing characters closer together, so I am curious about what may happen in the few installments til the finale. ( )

I like black mokona ( and I want one ) ( )

  This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.com by express permission of this reviewer   Title: xxxHolic #15 & 16 Series: xxxHolic Author & Artist: CLAMP Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Manga   Synopsis: Volume 15 is all about Watanuki saying goodbye to Yuko even though he doesn't realize it at the time. However, we the readers do and that makes it all the more poignant. Volume 16 is about Watanuki taking over the shop and dealing with his first real customer on his own.   My Thoughts: This series continues to impress me [I hesitate to say "astound", but honestly, it is really reaching that level]. The emotion between the characters, the emotion from the situations they are in, I have a hard time believing that a manga can do this to me.   In vol 15, Yuko explains to Watanuki why she must leave and yet at the end of the chapter, he ends up making the very same type of promise to wait for her return that set the events in motion that we read about in Tsubasa and xxxHolic. And it does seem that Yuko is now dead, but not truly gone. But it does seem that if anyone knew the dangers of making such a wish, it would be Yuko and she'd warn Watanuki against it. Maybe I'm mis-reading his wish however?   Watanuki takes over the shop in a pretty smooth transition from Yuko. He inherits her weird fashion sense, smokes her pipe and in many ways seems to be trying to emulate her actions and how she ran the shop. Time is another thing that isn't quite the same for us the readers now, as Watanuki has stepped outside of time and into the shop and so we don't see much what is happening outside or how time is flowing.   Very much looking forward to the final 3 volumes of xxxHolic! " ( )

This is a very sad volume with Yuko being gone and Watanuki choosing to stay with the shop. We get a time skip and have no idea what really happened in between. At least four years have past but I think more than that because of what Domeki and Mokona talk about over the course of the volume. We also do not know how many mistakes Watanuki made as he learned to run the shop but it was many and very bad. That said I really liked this volume. The sorrow in it is very moving and beautiful. Almost done with this series only three more volumes to go.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. ( )